Fire of Prometheus
by Unoriginality
Summary: Roy decides to fill in the holes with his side of the story. (Set in the Pandora's Box universe. Best read after Pandora's Box, Stranded, and When Hope Was Freed.)
1. Chapter 1: Illusia

Once upon a time in a fairy tale, there were two little boys who wanted to bring their mother back from the dead.

I never knew these boys before that night. I knew _of_ them; one had sent out letters to Hohenheim Elric's former contacts and friends, looking for the man. One of these letters ended up in my hands, and led me to Rizenbul, where the boys lived.

Lived, died, and resurrected.

But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

My name is Major General Roy Mustang. I'm one of the few on the ruling council of generals that runs Amestris in the wake of the destruction of most of Central. The complete loss of the fuhrer and his various top ranked leaders at the hands of a serial killer only known as Scar forced us into this new institution.

I'm a husband, a father, and a friend. My two boys are old enough to live on their own, but neither has seemed inclined to leave our home, and one even brought in a grandchild for me. Maes thinks it's the funniest thing to ever happen.

I think he needs his shoes set on fire, but Trisha and Riza both agree with him, and the boys just laugh, so I refrain.

The eldest of my sons, both adopted, mind you, I'm not nearly old enough for the gray hairs they and my new granddaughter give me, is famous. You may have heard of him as the Fullmetal Alchemist. The military's attack dog once, but no longer as Maes and I got it out into the papers that his 'victims' were all criminals that he caught in the act.

He's still not sure what to make of this change in events.

Edward gave us his confessions, his story, but he didn't know everything, and I promised to tell him someday.

Today's that day. His adopted daughter is old enough to hear his story, she's old enough to hear mine. Mine's not nearly as gruesome, but it fills in holes that he didn't know about.

This is my side of the story.

It was early February when I went to Rizenbul. I had a letter addressed to another officer who'd died in combat in Ishbal earlier that year, and I was following up on it. I had other motivations, motivations I'm not inclined to air here, but they had me tracking down this country boy and his family.

The storm that blew in with the train I was on was brutal, thunder and lightning crackling along the sky and piss-warm rain blowing nearly horizontal into my face. I crested the hill from the train station to look down on what I could only assume was Rizenbul, but with visibility being down to mere feet, I wasn't certain, even when the lightning flashed and lit up the ground. I saw a few houses in that light, and a couple still had lights burning in the windows. So I assumed I'd found something resembling civilization.

Then something strange happened.

I thought it was just lightning at first, but then I noticed two things: one, it was not white light, and two, it was not fading away.

I squinted against the rain, looking over at what turned out to be a house with its very walls ablaze with alchemical light. I did what any sane alchemist soldier would do. I went to investigate.

Okay, maybe not so sane.

I wasn't sure I was heading in the right direction when the light faded, but I pressed on across field and hill in pouring rain, hoping I'd get to wherever that house was. A second wave of light ripped from the walls, and I could feel the alchemical energy in the air with this one, something impossibly powerful that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

I reached the front door just as the light from that second transmutation faded. I tapped the doorknob a couple times, making sure I wouldn't burn my hand or get zapped or something if I grabbed it. After a second, I was reasonably comfortable that it was safe to turn the knob, so I opened the door.

I was immediately assaulted with the smell of boiled blood and burning flesh that took me back to Ishbal, to the desert where everything was impossibly hot and dry and people were screaming and-

Well, we'll leave that lay. We veterans sometimes take some things to the graves.

Other smells began to make their way past that to my awareness, and I briefly wondered, as I noticed the rain and chill again, how someone managed to set piss on fire.

It sure as hell smelled like it, no matter how impossible it probably was.

I pressed my wrist to my nose, trying to filter out the various chemicals haunting the house as I stepped in. The place was like a tomb, a heavy silence filling the air and drowning out the storm. "Hello?" I called, hearing nothing in response but a few crackles of alchemical energy. I followed the sound to what was obviously a library of some sort, with a desk and books and neatly-lined shelves.

The smoke and sound was coming from a room attached to that one, the door shut. I opened up windows in the library, trying to draw out the smoke before going to the closed door. As with the front entrance, I tapped the doorknob a few times before deciding it was safe, before stepping into hell.

The room was hazy and smelled strongly of burned ozone. I couldn't fathom what the hell sort of transmutation it'd been that had been performed to still be live like this. "Hello?" I called again.

In the center of the room was an upturned, large plate, and what I thought at the time was human. "I'm coming!" I told the person, barely able to see her hand raising up out of the smoke like someone reaching for help.

I say her.

We'll get to that later.

I took the hand gently, starting to crouch to assess injuries before moving the person, only to be met with a twisted mess of flesh and bone, a head on wrong, ribs sticking out, a heart beating on the outside.

I admit, I screamed like a little girl. I'd never seen anything like it, not even in Ishbal, not even after Kimblee got done with his victims, and let's be honest, he was so many levels of crazy, I couldn't even count that high with scientific notation.

I scrambled back away from it, back towards the door, only to slip in what I later realized was blood, and landed flat on my ass. I skittered back, trying to get to a solid, dry surface I could stand up on to run away like my ass was on fire and my heels were catching, only to crawl straight into another body.

This one, however, was far more human.

He was small, a child, maybe eleven, twelve at the maximum, and I could hear his raspy breath indicating he was alive. I looked over at the twisted subhuman, which made a keening noise and slowly dragged itself towards me.

I didn't know who that thing was after, me or the child or both, but I didn't stick around to find out. I got to my knees, picked up the child, then got to my feet, heading out of that room as fast as I could.

Once outside, I could tell the child was likely a boy, his right arm was missing up to the shoulder, and his left leg up to the knee. Blood gurgled in his throat. I adjusted his head in my arms to try to let him cough out that blood. It moderately worked.

I took him to the closest house that had lights on.

Rockbell Automail.

Somehow, I had a feeling that if God or gods existed, I was being laughed at. For reasons I'll leave lie.

I kicked the door a few times to get someone to answer, my hands and arms full with a dying boy. A young girl answered, and immediately screamed. An older woman came up behind her, and nearly dropped her pipe. I didn't wait for them to let me in any further before I muscled my way past them. "This boy is dying, I need help."

The old lady went right to work, snapping at Winry, the little girl, to settle down and start what was a chaotic process of medical jargon I didn't follow. I was instructed to bring the boy to a medical room where they started examining and hooking him up to various instruments.

"Where's Al?" Winry demanded. "He'd be with Ed, where is he?"

Another child. I stared at her helplessly a moment. The old woman looked over at me. Then without a word, I flew back out the door, running as fast as I could against wind and gravity up the hill back to that house.

The silent tomb feeling was gone, leaving just an empty, wet and cold house. I hurried through each room, calling for Al, or anyone that might be there.

Reluctantly, afraid to find that inhuman thing again, I took to the lab. It was gone, and I assumed its chemical composition was not stable and it'd broken down. I searched the room. Papers and glass tubes and beakers had been scattered about in a vaguely circular position, as if they'd been caught in a circle of energy. A suit of armor, old from who knew what age, was toppled over on the floor near a transmutation circle that had been burned into the floor. I peered inside, wondering if perhaps this 'Al' had crawled in to hide.

The armor was empty, but inside, just where the neck would be, was a small, eight pointed array drawn in blood.

Nearby was a crater where a little boy's clothing was laid abandoned.

I knew right away what had happened. Human transmutation. And one last bid for life from a dying little boy.

With my mind reeling and my heart heavy, I made my way back to the Rockbell home. Winry and Doctor Rockbell, as I assumed the old woman to be, were still working on the boy.

"Winry, more type O negative!" she said.

"We're out, Grandma, that was the last of it!"

The boy was dying. I had no medical knowledge to help with, but I did have one thing. "I'm type O negative," I said.

Doctor Rockbell looked over at me. "Winry, get him a seat, hook him up, he's our new donor."

I took off my coat and uniform jacket, rolling up my sleeve as Winry grabbed me a chair and set it near the boy's operating table.

She was practiced, moreso than I thought a child her age should be, but I was grateful for that practice. Having had needles shoved into my by people who didn't know what they were doing, you start appreciating those who know how to do it without causing more than a pinprick.

They took probably a bit more blood than was healthy, and I felt weak and dizzy after they unhooked me, but the boy was stabilized, and Doctor Rockbell all but shoved a couple muffins in my mouth and a glass of a sweet juice. I was too tired and drawn out to notice what kind of juice beyond it was sweet. So probably not orange, unless they added sugar.

Which was a possibility, I guess, but I wasn't terribly concerned with it at the time.

I didn't remember being shoved into a bed, but I knew I woke up the next morning feeling shaky and cotton-mouthed. I stumbled around until I found the dining room, where Doctor Rockbell was already seated, drinking what smelled like tea and smoking her pipe.

"I see you recovered from your job as donor," the old woman commented quietly over her mug as I stepped into the dining area at the front of the house. I wondered how many cups that one in her hand made for her.

"For the most part, I believe," I admitted, then eyed the tea. "I don't suppose you have any coffee I could impose upon you for?"

Doctor Rockbell set her cup aside. "I do, actually. I was about to perc some myself. The tea's lost its effect. I hope you like it strong, Mister Soldier."

I grimaced, settling down at the table and running a hand over his face. "Please, don't use such a vulgar name. Mister Mustang, is fine, although if you have to, I suppose I couldn't stop you from calling me Roy."

Doctor Rockbell grinned from the stool she'd climbed on to reach the coffee percolator. "Ah, a young'un who minds his manners around his elders. That's a rare thing to come from the military. I would hardly know you were an officer."

I found myself liking this woman. "You sound like you know a bit about how the military works, Dr. Rockbell," I said, propping my chin on the palm of my hand. "Are you a retired military doctor, by any chance?"

The noise Dr. Rockbell made at that point could only _kindly_ be called 'rude'. "Shut your mouth," she snapped, fussing with the percolator. "I've better sense than that. I'm just an old automail doctor who's had more soldiers for customers than she cares to remember. And you can call me Pinako. I've decided I like you enough to let you get away with that without risking a tobacco pipe to the knees."

The next words out of my mouth had been spoken before my exhausted brain could catch me and stop me. "I see where your son got his sense of humor."

The room seemed to get cold as Dr. Rockbell paused, then slowly set the mugs she was digging out of the cupboard down on the counter and looked back at me. I inwardly cringed. The death of the Rockbell doctors was no secret, the military pulling the trigger on them for helping 'the enemy' simply because they helped everyone who came to them, Amestrian or otherwise.

"You knew my son?" she asked quietly, leaning back against the counter and watching me.

"Ah- yes. A lot of us in the field did. We liked him. And his wife. The orders came from above most of us, what happened to him. None of us were happy about it."

"I see." With the tone she used, I couldn't help but wonder what it was she saw, but I didn't ask, and she didn't say. Silence took over and stretched on as she poured our coffee.

"War makes people do terrible things, doesn't it?" she finally said as she set my mug down in front of me.

My stomach turned in so many knots, I couldn't be sure I wouldn't grace her table with anything that might be left in it from the previous night. "Yes, it does," I answered hoarsely, refusing to look at her as I forced myself to down a sip of the coffee.

Pinako looked back towards the door to the medical units in the house, quiet for a moment before she took a drink of her own coffee. "That's the way of the world though, I suppose. There doesn't even have to be a war to take someone's family from them."

Some of the tension eased off from my shoulders, and I glanced where she was. "Your family was close to his, I take it?"

"Mm." She took another drink before answering. "His father is an old drinking buddy of mine. His mother and my daughter-in-law were friends growing up, and when Sara and my boy got married, Hohenheim crawled back into town to join the festivities and I introduced him to Trisha. She had him wrapped around her little finger right from 'hello'. I never wondered where their youngest son got his ability to make Winry and Ed do what he wanted."

Ah, a second child. I looked back at her. "The youngest son- he was the other boy you asked about last night, wasn't he?"

Pinako went quiet again, then sighed as she started to fiddle with her pipe and tobacco. "Alphonse. Al, we called him. He and his brother left for Dublith with a woman named Izumi Curtis to study alchemy, just under a year ago. I consented to let them go, because I was hoping having something to focus on would help them cope and move on, the way a person's supposed to. I can't imagine Edward would've come back alone. I'll contact Missus Curtis after the sun finishes rising to check, though."

More awake than I was a few minutes ago, I considered my words very carefully this time before opening my big mouth. "I will be forthright with you, Dr. Ro- er. Pinako."

Pinako gave me a somewhat calculating look over her pipe as she lit it. "I appreciate that," she said with a touch of dry amusement in her voice.

"Yes, well, don't expect it out of a lot of officers. I'm a rarity," I told her. "I was in Rizenbul because of official business. A letter was sent to an officer that unfortunately was among the casualties of Ishbal. It was sent by an Edward Elric, seeking his father, Hohenheim."

"I remember that letter," Pinako said, giving her pipe a couple puffs. "Edward made a spectacle of himself, sending those letters out." She didn't elaborate on what she meant by that, and I left it alone for the moment.

"It's not a well-known fact, but it's not exactly classified information that the military was seeking Edward's father. We were rather hoping for his assistance with the mess in Ishbal." I wouldn't have been surprised to find out it was related to Dr. Marcoh's work, and part of me was just as glad they never found the man.

"So you've come to see if perhaps he responded to any other letters Edward might've sent out?" I wondered again if perhaps Pinako hadn't been involved with the military somehow. She was certainly shrewd about how they functioned. Of course, I supposed, one only needed the right amount of paranoia and a little practice in any sort of political manipulation to figure out the double-motive to everything the military did.

"Something like that, yes," I said. "I had other reasons for volunteering to be the one to come out here." Pinako raised an eyebrow at him while I paused to consider again how to continue without being _too_ forthright. "Not all of us in the military are heartless killers, Dr. Rockbell." I ignored the slip this time, and she didn't say anything about it. "Some of us are even trying to do make things a little better for the people we protect, even if all we are able to do are little things."

Of course, it didn't seem that Pinako was _entirely_ buying my story. "Don't tell me an officer was moved by a little country bumpkin and his sick mother." Of course, she seemed amused by this idea- either because it was normally incredulous, or because it seemed outright silly for how true it was.

"I was, actually," I protested. This was true enough- any other time, I might've taken the assignment and delegated it down to one of my subordinates, but after Ishbal, I was finding myself scrabbling for even little things to try to make penance.

"Well, you're certainly a rare bird among the brass, then." Pinako eyed my shoulder. "Lieutenant Colonel, is it? I've heard of you. The famous Flame Alchemist. It's no wonder you're still idealistic. You're still young."

I chuckled, not entirely humorously. "Maybe. But for now, I'd rather be idealistic than the alternative. But yes, I came to see what had become of the sick mother. I assume she is no longer with us, since you are the one that gave the boys permission to go to Dublith?"

Pinako sighed, taking another drink of her coffee. "That's right," she said. "Trisha passed away not terribly long after those letters went out." She stopped and thought for a moment. "It's been about a year now, actually. Certainly took you military fellows long enough."

A year. Well, there really wasn't any denying that the military could be slower than molasses in the winter when it came to things it didn't deem important, like blowing up other nations. "Paperwork is the officer's curse," I told her. "It's always on deadline, but never processes even half as quickly as they want you to have it done." I was quiet a moment, considering again, and Pinako let me think without interruption. "I saw what was in that house," I finally told her, gauging her reaction.

There didn't seem to be much reaction to speak of; Pinako kept her expression carefully neutral, sipping her coffee without comment as she waited for me to continue.

Youth and cunning against age and treachery. I had a feeling age and treachery might win this one.

Since I wasn't going to get a reaction, I continued on. "I will be up front with you, Dr. Rockbell. My duty in the military says I ought to take that boy in for performing human transmutation."

"Yes, I suppose it does," Pinako replied, maintaining that flat tone. She eyed me over her glasses. "Something in that tone tells me there's more you plan on saying about this."

More careful consideration. I was dancing around on a family's personal wounds with this, and the military had done enough to them. "I do, yes," I admitted. "I don't always agree with what my duty and my stripes tell me to do. Sometimes I don't have a choice about it, but sometimes I do. I've no intention of turning him in. He's a child, and it seems to me that he's suffered enough for what he did."

Finally, Pinako smiled, although it was a fairly grim one. "Well, I'm very glad to hear that, Mister Mustang," she said, snuffing out her pipe, then flashed me a grin that made me fear for the safety of various body parts. "I would've hated to have to warn you about the creative ways tools could be used if you'd intended on doing anything but keeping it to yourself."

My god, she was a psychopath. Maes, you can stop laughing at any time.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, you're rather terrifying," I told her blandly.

She grinned. "Why thank you, boy. That's one of the nicest compliments a young man has paid me since my granddaughter was born."

She _would_ think that.

"I strive for flattery," I said, then grimaced, eyeing my coffee and suddenly wishing for something stronger to spike it with. "Should I assume it was their mother that they were attempting to resurrect?"

Back to business, the smile on Pinako's face faded and she sighed. "That would be a safe assumption, yes. Those boys were terribly fond of her. Took it hard when she died. She'd been their whole world. Unfortunately, Edward's had it in his head since my son and daughter-in-law died that alchemy could fix such a thing. I thought I'd scared the notion out of him, but I forget whose son he is. His father's just as stubborn when it comes to that alchemy of theirs."

What little I knew of Hohenheim of Light, that statement didn't surprise me any. "Are you and your granddaughter the only family he has?"

Pinako gave me a wary look, clearly already wondering where I was planning on going with this. "We are. His mother's side of the family wanted nothing to do with her or them because of their father. It's a shame; that used to be a good family."

I didn't know anything about Trisha Elric or her family, so I decided to take her word on it. "I'm going to make a suggestion to the boy that you may not like, Dr. Rockbell."

"I had a feeling you would." Pinako must've used all her years perfecting that long-suffering look.

"Successful or not, and regardless of the price paid, Edward survived an attempt at human transmutation. Since you are friends with Hohenheim of Light, I have a feeling I don't need to explain to you what that means about his talents in the field of alchemy."

That wary look on Pinako's face grew more suspicious, but she didn't say anything, so I continued. "The boy will need some sort of focus now, or else he could very well run the risk of trying something again. His brother was apparently killed in that transmutation, Dr. Rockbell. I'm sorry to admit I know a thing or two about the kind of guilt that will haunt a person after that kind of thing."

Pinako didn't answer right away, looking at me as that suspicious wariness changed to resignation. "I suppose you'd have him become a State Alchemist or some other such nonsense, wouldn't you?"

"I'm aware there are risks," I agreed. "I'm also aware that his current condition would make it impossible, but considering he is a boy that tried to defy nature, I hardly think he'll stay in a wheelchair forever."

There was that rude noise again. "No, he won't. That boy's too stubborn." Her fingers drummed on the table. "You remember, of course, that the only reason I'd consented to letting him study alchemy with Missus Curtis was for the very reason you're suggesting he test to become a State Alchemist?"

I nodded. "I remember. I also am aware that it's in his disposition to try something like that. I doubt Missus Curtis did. And with military orders, I can keep him steered away from that. Having something useful to do with his alchemy might help him, Dr. Rockbell. There may be some awful things we State Alchemists have to do, but the ones that remain in the capacity of civilian advisors rarely see those things, unlike those of us in the uniform."

Something else occurred to me, and I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from swearing at it. "And to be perfectly blunt, Dr. Rockbell, he would be far safer hiding from the military _in_ the military, under the command of someone who would keep this crime a secret. If the higher ups above me get any idea- any hint of a rumor they might hear while still looking for his father- that perhaps the son would be a better option, there would be absolutely nothing you or I or anyone else could do to save him from them."

The bastards would do it, too, and I damn well knew it.

That last reason seemed to have her attention more than my others had, and the skepticism gave way to concern. She looked towards the door to the medical unit again, clearly debating over what I said and her better judgment. I imagined her better judgment was telling her to run me off the property before I could fill Edward's head with these ideas, and if I were smart, I'd be getting a running head start.

Of course, my mother always _did_ tell me I had the common sense of a door sometimes.

"All right," she finally said quietly. "I don't like it, mind you. But I won't stop you, or him, if he decides to take you up on this idea." Her lip curled up in frustration. "I doubt I could stop him even if I tried."

I glanced at my now-cold coffee. "It wouldn't be the sort of thing I'd normally advocate, Dr. Rockbell. It's not my favorite of my ideas. But I will promise you this. I will do my best to look after him in this."

Edward remembers our conversation after he woke up fairly well, so I won't rehash it. But I could tell before he even indicated he'd have to think about it that he would do it. I could see it in his eyes.

For the record, Edward, you didn't miss much of a joke, I'm sure you know that by now.


	2. Chapter 2: Something Shattered

I returned to Central for the moment, tending to the mundane world of running an office and that damnable pile of paperwork that would be my curse for the next million and a half years. But it was certainly better than the long bouts of boredom punctuated by thirty seconds of terror that you got out in the field.

Little did I know that in just a few months, Edward would be making me relive all that in his own, special, unique little way.

Naturally, I warned Riza and the others that I expected Edward before the next State Alchemist test, so they weren't completely caught off guard by a kid showing up on our doorstep.

I did too warn them, Maes. Riza would vouch for me.

"Sir, are you sure that's a good idea?" Riza asked me when I'd called her and the men into my office. "The military is no place for a child."

"I'm well aware of that, Lieutenant," I told her. "But what is, is. I expect him in time for this next test, but it could be sometime more within the next few years. Just be prepared." I sat back in my chair, kicking my feet up on my desk, something that drove Riza batty, and I knew it.

What? I'm an asshole sometimes.

Yes, only sometimes.

"Besides," I said, "he'll be a civilian advisor, and with his knowledge of alchemy, he'll be a damn good one."

"Boss, they'll stuff him in a uniform in a second if there's war," Havoc pointed out.

Riza eyed my feet evilly. "Lieutenant Havoc makes an excellent point," she said, still looking at my feet and not me. "They'll make him a soldier as quickly as anyone else." I could see my death in her eyes.

"Then we have to do our best to avoid war, don't we?" I said. I could see my death in _all_ their eyes at that. I took my feet off the desk, leaning forward in my chair. "People, we have a child alchemist that needs protecting from the military. They would find him and uniform him quicker than any of us could move if they found him. He's better at alchemy than his father. We need to get to him first. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." I never understood how those four could say something at the same time like that. I half expected Havoc to yell 'jinx' or something.

"Dismissed," I said. The men saluted, then left my office for their desks.

Riza remained behind.

"Did you need something, Lieutenant?" I asked her.

"Permission to speak plainly, sir?"

I glanced at the closed door to my office a moment, judging how close people were through the mottled glass. "Permission granted," I finally said after deciding it was safe.

"Have you lost your mind?" she asked. "How do you know he's better than his father? How will the military know?"

I raised an eyebrow. I'd said permission to speak plainly, not that plainly. "That's something I'm not at liberty to say right now, Lieutenant," I said. "And the military has their ways. If they even get a hint at what this secret is, they'll recruit him against his will. This way, he has some control, and I have some control to protect him. Anything else?"

I could see her hesitation, but she said what was on her mind anyway. "Why are you interested in this?"

"I have my reasons, Lieutenant," I said. I had no intention on telling anyone, and I still won't, so stop pestering me, Hannah.

Riza knew me, even way back then. She knew I wasn't going to reveal those reasons, not until they were need to know by her, which may be never. "As you wish, sir. With respect, I'll return to my work, now."

"Dismissed, Lieutenant."

And that was basically the end of that.

Then came the 'incident' with General Hakuro's family. What a mess. I'd been rather hoping Edward would show up in time to stop it from happening, but he was still in rehab for a couple weeks after that. It would've gotten him that special permission he needed to take the test as a child, and it would've gone towards my upwards climb to have found him and put him where the general needed him.

Alas, my luck didn't hold out there.

Maes ended up with an injured hand, but Hakuro and his family were fine. The exchange of prisoners was made and I ultimately ended up swept out East for my failure in that situation.

Ugh.

But before my promotion and exile, Edward showed up.

There was a knock on my office door, and Riza stepped in. I had gotten bored of paperwork, frustrated with all the red tape, so I was taking a break, balancing a pencil on my upper lip.

"Sir?" I looked over at Riza without losing my pencil. The look she was giving me told me she'd find a way to kill me in my sleep. "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."

I set the pencil aside. "Of course not, Lieutenant, what is it?" I shot her my best innocent smile.

She didn't buy it, I could tell. "General Raven is here to see you, sir."

I scrambled to my feet. A general that wasn't in my immediate chain of command had come to my office specifically? I worried what trouble I was in. "Show him in, Lieutenant." I was extremely grateful she'd come to announce him first, rather than just lead him in. That would've been embarrassing.

General Raven came in and I saluted. "General Raven. What do I owe the honor?"

"At ease, Mustang," the general said with a smile. I worried a bit less about his business, with that smile, but I wasn't entirely certain yet, so I held onto my paranoia.

I dropped my salute. "How can I help you today, General?"

"I've brought you a present, Lieutenant Colonel," he said. "One you bought for yourself. A boy named Edward Elric that tells my daughter you invited him for an opportunity to study."

"Ah yes, Edward," I said. "I did invite him here. I think he could handle the State Alchemist testing, to be perfectly honest. He just needs special permissions."

"Is that so?" Raven looked to be contemplating. "How do you know he could handle it?"

"He countered an accident in his father's lab from one of his father's older experiments. It cost him some, but he survived something he should not have because of his alchemical knowledge and quick reflexes, both of which are valued in a State Alchemist."

Not quite the truth, obviously, but I wasn't going to air crimes like that to people who didn't need to know. Pretty slick little lie, if I do say so myself.

"Hm." Raven sat down in a chair across from me. I remained standing out of respect. "Well, I could give him special permission, my daughter likes him well enough, and if you think he's that smart, then I see no reason not to give him a chance. But this year's test is so close, he won't have time to study, I don't think. Next year's test, he's got his permissions."

I was hoping for better, and I had a feeling Edward could still get better, so I took what I could get for the moment. "Thank you, General. I've already made arrangements for where he can stay."

"Where's he staying to study?"

"With Shou Tucker. Edward won't have access to the First Library to study, yet, and the Sewing-Life Alchemist has the most extensive library that Edward would be able to use."

Raven laughed. "That's going to put a bee under Grand's bonnet. I like it. Well, I'll leave him to you, then. Have a good day, Lieutenant Colonel." He got up and headed for the door.

I followed him, waited until he'd said goodbye to Edward, and then motioned to Riza and Edward. "Lieutenant Hawkeye, Edward, I'd like a word with you."

Naturally, Riza had to stir the shit pot a bit when she offered to hide Edward's suitcase under her desk to prevent it from falling prey to the habits of her office mates.

"Children," I said as they argued. "Don't make me sit you in separate corners."

That settled the issue while Riza and Edward entered my office. I shut the door behind them, then went back to my desk. "Lieutenant, I would like you to take Edward to where he is to stay until after the exams. He'll be studying with Shou Tucker." I grabbed a folder off my desk and handed it to her. "This is his personnel folder, all information in it is public knowledge, feel free to share it with Edward on the way there."

"Yes sir," she said, clipping the folder under her clipboard.

"One more favor. As you've probably already seen, Edward has an old throat injury that makes talking difficult. You're familiar with field sign?"

Of course she was, that was one of the few ways we could give a sniper orders without blowing their cover. I was being annoying.

"I am, sir."

"I want you to teach it to Edward. He'll need a way to communicate with us."

"Yes, sir. I'll arrange with Mister Tucker what days and times would be best to come by."

"You do that." I looked at Edward. Something to understand here. He was twelve in a couple months and the poor kid was still under five feet. I admit, what I said next was childish, but I wanted to see how he'd react. "Mister Tucker has a young daughter around four, and a fairly large dog, last I knew, so try not to get lost behind it."

Edward did not disappoint me. He turned as purple as his coat, swearing at me in his squeaky little voice.

I'm almost sorry he outgrew that. He was terribly funny.

Edward's giving me a death look at the moment, so I'll leave that lay there.

I will admit, something Edward may end up hitting me for, that part of my motivation for placing him with Tucker was, well, complicated. For one, Tucker was local, the library was a truthful motivation. I thought the little girl might end up being good for Edward, and I had some suspicions I was hoping Edward could confirm.

See, Tucker's wife had 'disappeared' almost at the same time as his creation of the first talking chimera. That chimera said two words. "Kill me." Then it stopped eating and died of starvation. I had seen enough in the Ishbal War to not overestimate peoples' abilities to be cruel in the name of science. I wondered, just enough, if he hadn't used his wife to create that first chimera. And if that was the case, I worried who would be the next victim. Tucker's recertification tests since that day had been very lackluster, and Grand was on him heavily to produce another talking chimera.

I hoped Edward could suss out the truth and get me evidence to turn Tucker and Grand in for it.

He found it.

But that in a minute.

Test time came around. Edward still had not caught anyone's eye enough to take this year's test. I worried what he might do if he were delayed a year. I hoped he'd settle down, maybe stay with Maes since I didn't think I'd be able to finangle a longer stay with Tucker out of Grand's chain of command.

But Edward was adamant that he needed this year's test. I could understand his urgency; waiting without a direction to go was hard, and teenagers have no patience. What I didn't understand was what he planned on doing with his research, whatever field he chose to go into. If I'd had any idea he was only doing this to get his brother back, I would've grounded him until he was twenty and the idea had cooled.

Although, with what I know now, both about Al's whereabouts, and their unique bond, that wouldn't have happened, and I understand this. I just wish we'd come into this situation from a better angle. I could've helped more if I had all the information.

Anyway, the written test came and passed, and the evening after the interviews, Edward came to my office to bawl me out. And if he'd managed more volume and had been a bit more creative, my ears might've turned red.

Maes was with me, stopping in to see how my headache was progressing. I was on the council of State Alchemists that judged the testing, and calling it a headache might've been kind. He tried to calm Edward down, pointing out that he could stay with them, get another year of study under his belt to guarantee a pass on the test.

Edward was having none of it, though, and left my office in a tizzy. I sighed as the door closed behind him.

"I still think you oughta adopt him," Maes said, glancing back at the door Edward had stormed out of. "He reminds me so much of you!"

I gave him a weary look. "Maes? Why are you trying to get me a child before anything else? I believe you've got things backwards."

I regretted saying that as soon as Maes's face lit up. "Well, hey, it may be just what it takes to get you to settle down with a nice woman!"

Sigh. "Maes? Please don't make me set you on fire. Gracia would be cross with me if I did that."

Maes shrugged. "It was worth a shot. But honestly, Roy, General Raven said he'd grant that permission for Ed next year, after he's had a chance to study more. It'd be just one year. A year won't kill you."

I grit my teeth. "Maes? Stop trying to pretend I'm father material, okay? It's better for my blood pressure that way." I sighed, running my hand over my face tiredly. "And besides that, if I were to do that, once he does earn that certification, he could not be under my command."

And yet, I couldn't shake the impression that Edward might try something rash if he were simply sent back home to Rizenbul with nothing to show for these efforts. So Maes was at least half-right.

Maes shrugged again. "Then Gracia and I will take him in. Relax, Roy. The world's not ending, just because a teenager squeaked at you a bit. They tend to do that."

I grunted a bit. "Charming bunch. I can see why you're so anxious to saddle me with one."

Maes laughed. "Aw, kids are great, Roy. You just haven't given them a chance."

I lifted my head slowly, giving my friend a long, patient look. "Just remember you said that when Elysia turns into a teenager and starts chasing after boys."

For a moment, Maes didn't answer; clearly, he hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "She's grounded until she's fifty."

The phone rang before I had a chance to break my friend's little black heart by assuring him that it didn't work that way. I eyed the phone a moment, uncertain if I wanted to deal with it or not. But to be better safe than sorry, I picked it up. "This is Mustang."

"Ah, Lieutenant Colonel! I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important?"

My blood froze at the voice. Fuhrer Bradley. What in the name of all things was the fuhrer doing calling me? I thought I was going to have a stroke. "Oh, no, sir, not at all. What can I do for you?"

"I know this is a terrible thing to ask after all the work you and the rest of the board have done in the last few days, but I was hoping I could impose upon you to stay late tonight. We have one last written test and an interview, it turns out."

I blinked. Then blinked some more. And if I hadn't already been sitting down, I would've been finding myself landing hard on my chair seat. A late test. And Maes and I had just been talking about Edward missing it. If this had anything to do with something Edward did behind my back, I was going to have to strangle that child. "Mind? No, certainly not."

"Oh good!" Even over the phone, I could picture that obnoxiously cheerful smile that Bradley had perfected to a nauseating level. "I was hoping you would say that. General Raven assures me that you were the one that found this talented young man. I suppose I should thank you! It will be quite an experience, testing a child for State Alchemist, won't it?"

It _was_ Edward. I wanted to hit my head on something. "Ah, you've met Edward, I see. Yes, he is quite exceptional."

"Quite indeed," Bradley agreed. "We shall be expecting you in an hour in the grand hall for the testing."

"Yes, sir, of course, sir, I'll be there," I assured him. Once Bradley had hung up, I let my forehead hit painfully against the desk.

"You know," Maes said, tapping me on the shoulder, "you really shouldn't do that. You'll get headaches."

I lifted my head, ignoring the piece of paper that had stuck itself there and peered up at Maes. "Why do you think I did that?" I yanked off the paper, setting it down. "Edward ran into the fuhrer. Guess who's getting his test after all?"

Maes was quiet for a long moment, his lips twitching slightly. "Quite the kid you've found for yourself, Roy."

I made a rude noise. "And you _wanted_ one of those things."

"And now you have one!" Maes had that same insufferable smile that he got whenever pictures of Elysia and Gracia came out of hiding. "Isn't parenthood great?"

I made a face that said I didn't exactly agree. At that rate, Edward was going to be the death of me.

Edward passed his written test, although I thought he cut it a bit close, not quite finishing it before time was up. But he got enough done and all of them spot on right that he passed anyway.

He was tired at the interview, I could tell. He'd take almost too long to answer, his hands 'slurring' a bit from time to time, but he made it.

One question almost stuck him, though. "Why do you want to be a State Alchemist?" Bradley and the rest of us watched him expectantly. I wondered how he'd handle this.

He was quiet a moment, thinking. _"I want to do something for my family,"_ he finally said. _"My mother died a couple years ago and my brother disappeared in a lab accident not long after."_

I noted his use of 'disappeared', figuring it was denial, but no, it was meant literally, as I found out later.

_"I want to do something in their honor. 'Alchemist, be thou for the people.' Something they can say they're proud of me for."_

A glance at Bradley confirmed what I already thought: Edward had nailed that question. Excellent. Now if he could just pass the practical, he'd be fine.

The next day was practicals and I was exhausted from staying up late at work with Edward's test and interview. So I wasn't feeling terribly pleasant when Edward asked me why I was crabby. I demanded in a low, strangled voice what he did to catch Bradley's attention.

"I fixed Selim's toy," he replied in a whisper.

I wanted to throttle that boy. "That's all?"

"You'll see." He looked so damn smug. I wanted to throttle him some more.

I admit, the transmutation he performed for his practical was nothing short of amazing. He transmuted a seven foot tall suit of armor without a circle, and used a perpetual transmutation to keep it moving through basic martial arts moves.

I'd never heard of anyone not needing a circle. It was unheard of. I know now how it's possible, but back then, it was staggering. I knew then that he'd been the one to pass the test that year.

He wasn't terribly impressed with my reaction later that day after I'd received his watch to give to him as his new commanding officer. I tossed it to him over my desk with a bland 'here'.

_"That's it?"_

I was proud of him, of course, but my own recertification was coming up, as well as Tucker's, and I was still nervous about that. I also wanted Edward to understand just what he'd done. I'd told him the good side, it was time to learn about the not so fun side. "What do you want me to say?" I asked him. "Congratulations, you're a dog of the military now."

_"Just remember, you're the one that thought this was a good idea."_

"And you've suitably impressed me," I said, turning back to my paperwork. "For now, return to the Tuckers' place. You've been placed under my command. I'll come up with a suitable assignment for you."

To be honest, I was stressed. Now that the test was over, Grand would likely kick Edward out of Tucker's and we'd be no closer to finding out what was going on. I still had that troubling theory about Tucker's wife. I worried for the little girl. Edward could hold his own, but Nina would become a victim very quickly.

I hoped I was merely jumping at shadows.

I went home in a state of mixed emotions. Edward had performed beautifully at the test, and I was terribly proud of him, but I was worried about the Tucker girl and what it might do to Edward if I was right and he found out.

I had reason to worry.

I was woken up late that night by the phone. There's only two people who'd call me that late at night, both of which would only call at that time in case of emergency.

I shuffled to the phone in my house robe, feeling too much asleep for my own good. "Hello?"

At first, I wasn't sure anyone said anything. I heard something that made my phone line crackle, but I couldn't be certain if that was feedback or what it was. So I repeated my greeting, feeling less than happy. "Hello? Is someone there?"

"Something's happened," Edward said in his barely more than a whispered voice. "Tucker's- you have to come to Tucker's, something's happened."

"Edward?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the operator said. "The line's been disconnected."


	3. Chapter 3: Always Cold

I almost forgot to change into proper clothes, much less my uniform, in my haste to get out to Tucker's. I'm pretty sure I broke the speed limit getting there, but by the time I actually arrived at the house, I knew I was too late. Grand was there, along with a small section of soldiers, running damage control. I couldn't see any sign of Edward or either of the Tuckers.

Damnit.

Well, that was as good a time as any to grow a brass pair and demand some answers. I had a feeling I wouldn't get the answers I wanted, but channeling my fear into anger would be more productive than running around, wringing my hands.

"Grand! What is the meaning of this?"

Grand gave me one of his hard-nosed looks he was so famous for. "This doesn't concern you, _Lieutenant Colonel_." The way he emphasized my rank made me grind my teeth. "Shou Tucker's experiments are classified."

That told me right there that I wasn't getting answers, but I tried anyway. "Excuse me, _sir_, but Edward Elric was staying here and he's _my_ subordinate. So allow me to rephrase. Where is Edward Elric?"

Grand turned to me, crossing his arms and drawing himself up to his full seven-foot-something height to try to intimidate me. I was so concerned for Edward, it didn't work. "The Fullmetal Alchemist was removed earlier from the premises. If he came back, he entered a restricted area. I suggest you leave before you find yourself in more trouble than you know what to do with, Flame Alchemist."

Edward _had_ come back. Even if I hadn't gotten that phone call, I'd've known from Grand's wording. He came back, found something he was not supposed to, and now where was he? In custody of some sorts, more than likely. I drew myself up, nowhere near as impressive as Grand's stature, but I would be damned if I didn't have pride to match Grand's outright arrogance. I snapped a salute that was almost too perfect as to border on sarcasm before walking away.

Maes. If anyone could find out where Edward had been taken in a hurry, it'd be Maes. Hopefully, both Gracia and Maes would forgive me for pounding on their door at one in the morning and possibly waking the baby.

Gracia, it turned out, _was_ already up, because of Elysia, and she answered the door with a sleepy look on her face, Elysia bundled in one arm. She looked at me for a moment that seemed to take eternity to me, then she frowned. "Who died?"

I didn't like where my thoughts went to with her question; I ignored it for the moment. "Where's Maes?"

"He's in the kitchen," she said, stepping back as I went barging in past her. "Roy, what's going on? Nobody's hurt, are they?" She rushed to close the door behind us.

"I don't know, Gracia. Edward found trouble, that's all I know for certain," I said, tone a bit clipped as I hurried back to the kitchen.

Maes was sitting at the table, nursing a cup of what smelled like some sort of tea. He looked up at my entrance and froze. "What happened?"

"Edward happened, that's what," I snapped, somewhat unintentionally. "Grand tried to kick him out of Tucker's residence without notifying me so I could make arrangements for him to be somewhere else. Somewhere in the process, Edward found something he wasn't supposed to and now he's missing."

Maes set his mug down so fast that his tea splashed out of it as he got up, moving to get past me and into the living room. "Let me make some calls. He's probably in custody, it's just a matter of where. Did you just come from Tucker's place?"

I stepped aside to let my friend through, then turned to follow him. "Yes, and Grand was still there."

"Good." Maes grabbed the phone and started dialing while I leaned back against the wall near him, rubbing my hands over my face. My nerves still were jangling from being roused out of a sound sleep and I couldn't _think_ past the white noise that fogged the brain as a result. I'd let my friend make the calls while I got my thoughts back into order.

It stood to reason that Edward found out what I was unable to confirm about Tucker's experiments. If Edward had been capable of making that phone call, then it could not have been him that was endangered by Tucker's experiments.

That left the little girl.

Which would explain why Edward sounded so shell-shocked on the phone. Particularly given his own history.

Of course, experiments like that going public would look bad for the military, and especially for Grand.

Which meant it was very likely Grand had taken Edward into custody, which meant it stood to reason to check with the prisons.

I glanced over at Maes, tuning in to this side of the conversation to see if my friend had already hit upon that. I was hoping he had. I felt frazzled and worn around the edges too much to think clearly. And there was a bit of helplessness that I'd sooner die than admit to right then. If Grand had taken Edward into custody, there was no telling what kind of fight to get Edward back it'd be.

Maes hung up the phone, sitting quietly for a moment. "Nobody I can get anything from knows where Ed is right now," he said. His tone said there was more to say, though. I fairly dreaded finding out what it was. "I've got some more contacts I can pull, easier through the office than from here, though, so we can keep looking."

"Maes?" I looked at him, feeling for all the world like I'd been kicked in the gut. "Spit it out."

Maes hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly. "Shou Tucker is dead."

Did I say before that I'd felt like I'd been kicked in the gut? Whoever did that to me kicked me again and I was certain I was either going to lose my dinner, if it was still in there, or never breathe properly again. "What?"

"Tucker's dead. Come on, let's get to my office. I'll go get dressed, you call in anyone you think can help us that you trust." He took off, leaving me with the phone. I took half a second to finish processing what he said before I sat down at the phone and connected to the operator.

The first person I called was naturally Riza. I didn't tell her much, I didn't know if the line might be tapped, or if the operator would be a blabber mouth. So I told her as little as I could, that I needed her down at Maes's office as quickly as possible. I put in similar calls to Havoc and Breda.

By the time I'd hung up with Breda, Maes was ready to go. He kissed Gracia's cheek. "Sorry, honey, looks like it's another long night at the office."

She gave him a weak smile. "Just find him, you two. I don't care how long it keeps you at the office."

We sped through the night to the Investigations office. Riza was already there, waiting in her uniform and looking tired. She saluted when we arrived, clearly stifling a yawn. "At ease, Lieutenant," I told her. "Feel free to yawn. We'll all be before this is over."

She tried to say something around a jaw-popping yawn, something that sounded like 'yes, sir', then followed us in once Maes got the door unlocked. "I'll put on the coffee," she said, heading for the perc. She didn't like coffee much, but I knew even she'd be knocking back a couple cups.

Havoc and Breda showed up next, after Maes was already working on making calls. I sat them each at a desk with a phone and a list of places to start calling. Warrant Office Falman soon joined us, and we spent the rest of the early morning hours tearing apart every contact we had amongst the lot of us there in Central for what had happened to Edward. Precious few details had surfaced, and they all reeked of the cover-up that Brigadier General Grand was already putting into motion.

Tucker's death was considered the result of an alchemical rebound. Maes had gone down to the hospital morgue and used his clearance from Investigations to take a look at the body.

"If that was an alchemical rebound, then I'll throw away my camera," had been his assessment. "It looks like someone started hitting him and didn't stop until they were hitting the ground."

Falman hung up his phone. "I just checked with the fourth lab," he announced. "There's no sign of any of Tucker's chimeras there, either."

Riza looked over at him. "That covers all four of the military's laboratories, though."

"Which means either they're still at the house, or there's some other location they would take things like that to," I pointed out. "And I saw several already being loaded when I was there. So some are already somewhere besides the house."

Breda looked up from his own phone call, covering the mouthpiece with his hand. "There aren't any other labs around?"

Maes shook his head. "There used to be a fifth laboratory, but it's been defunct for years. The grounds are in ruins."

"It's possible that's as much of a cover story as anything we'll be hearing out of Grand's mouth," I said, "but the only person I know that could hope to have the clearance for that is in East City and wouldn't be able to help us much from there."

Riza pursed her lips tightly together. "I can call him anyway if you would like, sir."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I can't guarantee he would have clearance anyway, and the chimeras are the least of my concern. I'm more interested in what happened to Edward and Tucker's little girl."

"Well, if our supposition is correct about the fate of Tucker's wife," Riza said, "then we can assume we know where the little girl is. Edward logically had to have been safe from Tucker's experiments, or he could not have called you."

Maes sat back. "If that's the case, then we can explain Tucker's death."

I didn't want to think about that. "Which means Edward's in custody. Let's check the military prisons again, just to be safe."

"Unless he's in protective custody, sir," Riza pointed out. "He could be held anywhere if that's the case."

I grunted. "Check the prisons, check with the MPs if the prisons don't pan out."

Phones were picked up and calls were made again.

Protective custody, my ass. Was Grand planning on charging a child with murder? One in the public eye? That'd look bad on him, I couldn't imagine he'd try it, but he was probably also pissed off enough about Tucker that he just might.

While that unwelcome possibility hovered dangerously over our collective thoughts, nobody dared voiced it, to my relief. The chance was there, but earning the title of State Alchemist at the age of twelve had earned Edward national attention. It'd look terrible on the military to immediately charge him guilty of capital crimes. Particularly when they were also trying to cover up Tucker's activities, something that was probably a big-assed bumblebee buzzing around in Grand's pants.

Which made us worry about what _else_ Grand might try to cover his own involvement and embarrassment.

"Sir, I have something," Riza said, hanging up her phone. "An MP just confirmed that Edward was taken into protective custody. He's uncertain where Edward was to be held, but right now, he's being held at the MP center."

I ran for the door, grabbing my coat as I went. "Keep calling around, see what else you can find about all this," I ordered the others. "I'll try to intercept Edward before he gets moved."

The MP center was on the other side of the Central Headquarters compound from Investigations, something that right then, made very little sense to me as I pushed my car to dangerous speeds on the wet roads. When I reached my destination, I almost forgot to turn the car off, hurrying inside.

The halls were relatively quiet, to no surprise, at four-thirty in the morning. Forcing myself to walk and not tear around the MP building like a child given too much sugar, I made my way around the halls, looking for any signs of life.

"Can I help you with something, sir?"

I turned at the voice, biting back a sigh of relief at the sight of an MP. "Yes, I'm looking for someone," I told him. "A subordinate of mine was recently brought in from a restricted area for protective custody. The Fullmetal Alchemist."

The MP frowned. "You're his commanding officer?"

I nodded. "I am. Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang."

For a second, the MP looked like he was debating something. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel, I'm afraid the Fullmetal Alchemist isn't here anymore. He just got transferred under order from General Grand. I'm afraid his destination is classified."

I narrowed my eyes. "Edward is my subordinate, he shouldn't be transferred anywhere without _my_ authorization."

To the man's credit, the MP looked genuinely sorry. "I'm very sorry, sir, but General Grand was quite specific. He's in protective custody for further questioning. General Grand had the authorization for the situation. You'll have to take it up with him."

I planned on it. "Thank you, Captain," I said through gritted teeth.

The sun had started rising by the time I returned to the Investigations office, and our group was forced to surrender to fatigue, at least momentarily. None of us turned down Maes's offer of breakfast at his home, and a quick phone call to give Gracia advanced warning later, our exhausted group had piled into a car and returned to the Hughes family home to regroup.

Gracia met us at the door, looking like she hadn't slept either. "Come on in. Elysia's sleeping, but breakfast is cooking. There's coffee ready for all of you."

I forced a sleepy smile. "You're an angel, Gracia. It's the only explanation for how you haven't fed that man his camera."

Maes gave me a weary sort of glare. "See, this is why I don't have many pictures of you. You're an intolerable bastard."

"Nonsense," I replied, tone blander than I'd intended, "I'm just as pleasant as anyone here."

"Exactly my point, Roy."

"Sirs?" Riza piped up from the back of the line that trudged wearily into the kitchen for the promise of coffee. "With all due respect, I suggest we get our coffee and our breakfast and save our energy. We have a very long day ahead of us."

A long day was just the start. Gracia's breakfast put some life back into me, but I was sleep deprived and worried out of my mind and starting to grow angry. Grand had stolen Edward out from under me and was covering up his own shit. Edward as a child, for god's sake. What the hell did Grand plan on doing to him?

Nothing, it turned out, but someone else stepped in.

Maes found Edward briefly in the Processing office, playing office gopher. I relaxed a bit hearing that, knowing he was still around and okay, even if someone, probably Grand, had him playing at bullshit menial stuff. At least he was safe and where I knew where he was so I could start pulling for him to be put back under my command where he belonged.

Then I got transferred East.

Thanks, Hakuro.

I went reluctantly, but unable to do anything to stop it. Maes could keep an eye on Edward at the offices, I would continue making a lot of noise for him to be in my command again, and in the meantime, I would chew on my own liver after drinking it to death.


	4. Chapter 4: You Didn't Say Goodbye

I had barely gotten settled out East when Maes called me at home. That by itself wasn't unusual, since he was usually just keeping in touch, keeping me updated on his wonderful daughter. We were still friends, we made no secret of that, which is why they never placed us in command together. So a call at about five-thirty in the evening, just home from work, was not entirely out of place.

"Hello, Maes. What wonderful thing did Elysia do today?" I said upon picking up the phone. Nobody else called me on my personal line, really.

"Roy, you need to get back here," he said, completely ignoring my invitation to go on about his daughter.

That had my attention pretty damn quickly. "What happened?"

"Edward's gone. Grand doesn't know where he is."

I found myself sitting down in my chair heavily. "What? Where- did he run away?"

"I have no idea. He's just gone. He's not in his dorm, and Grand says he has no idea where he's gone to."

"Have they done a search in the city? He hasn't gone to Gracia? You're still at the office, right? Is it possible he's at your place?" My mind whirled through the possibilities, trying to come up with one that made sense that didn't mean my son- as I was kinda reluctantly starting to think of him as- was missing.

"It's been a few days since he disappeared," Maes said. "I'm just now being called in on the search, otherwise, I would've called sooner. I didn't know until just now, when this hit my desk. They've done a quiet search around the city, he's not here. He could be anywhere. There's no paper trail saying he got transferred somewhere, but we both know that could be a cover up. They're going to be contacting you to make sure you report him if he shows up out there, in case he decided to go to the saner commanding officer, so brace yourself."

"Well, I'll just tell the truth," I said blandly, sighing and running a hand over my face. "I sincerely hope that's what's going on. Have they checked at Rizenbul?"

"Yeah, that was the first place we checked once enough time had passed for a train to get him there. His house is sealed up and the Rockbells haven't seen him since he left to come to Central. They're both worried out of their minds now."

"I'm sure." I sat back in my chair, thinking. He could be anywhere, so thinking wasn't helping. Maybe we'd get lucky and Edward would show up at East Headquarters. Maybe.

Something in my gut told me we wouldn't be that lucky.

It turned out I was right. Edward showed up absolutely nowhere.

We found out that Edward had indeed been under Grand's command, under orders from the fuhrer, and finding that out had been like pulling teeth from a cranky bear. That still didn't tell us where Edward was.

Months crawled by with no sign of him. I was starting to worry that he'd gotten himself killed somehow, and all sorts of bad scenarios presented themselves to me. Car wrecks, train wrecks, bandits, terrorists, any manner of animal that outpowered him. The list was endless, and it gnawed at my insides.

Eventually, though, he showed up. About seven... I think seven months later, Edward can correct me later, he showed up. Sort of. A private who'd been serving at a firebase just over the Drachman border showed up in Maes's office, with a picture Maes had given Edward.

According to this private, Edward had been deployed to Firebase O... O something, Edward remembers it, by his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Archer. Archer was one of Grand's subordinates, so Grand's story about not knowing where Edward was fell apart and he was busted down in rank and sent to serve under General Armstrong at Briggs. My heart didn't break.

Although, now knowing that it was a shapeshifter homunculus that actually put Edward under Archer's command, I almost feel sorry for Grand. Almost. Not quite.

Edward said in his story at the end that he went North to Acheron to extract revenge on Archer. He didn't. Hohenheim Elric came to us shortly after seeing Edward on the road and said that he'd spent a couple weeks in a delirium that wasn't uncommon after a transmutation such as what hit Central. Hohenheim himself had gone through it when he created alchemy's first known Philosopher's Stone a long damn time ago.

To anyone that thinks Archer got away with things, he didn't. I ordered him back to Central, then handed him off to someone else to do what she wanted to him.

His cause of death was drowning in the river, incidentally. Nobody knew what he was doing by the river, but no trace of foul play was found.

Funny, that.

But enough about that rat.

Edward was shipped back to Central before his so-called time at the firebase was up, putting him safely back in civilian hands. I went back to making very loud, hard to ignore noises about getting him back under my command. There were some arguments about that between me and Bradley. He pointed out that Edward had gone into a restricted area while under my command, and I pointed out that he was a child and a civilian advisor, and now had gone through a war zone, as a child, I reiterated, for his so-called crime, and had more than paid for it.

I argued respectfully, of course. I wanted to actually win it. Which I seemed to do.

Edward explained what happened in Central that sent me a bigger mess than Archer had made, so I won't go over it again. I sometimes wonder if he would've recovered much sooner if he'd not stumbled upon that mess. He wonders, too. Maybe, maybe not. But it certainly didn't help.

He was finally released to my care after a long stop in Rizenbul to expand his port and recover from that. The little snot-faced brat had shot up a couple inches and put on a good amount of muscle mass. I almost couldn't call him tiny anymore.

Riza was in my office, fielding some paperwork, when Havoc knocked on the door and stuck his head in. "Boss, the kid's here."

"Send him in, Lieutenant," I said. I was almost giddy with relief.

Until I saw what came into my office.

Edward was a bit taller, more filled out, and had a soldier's stare. He snapped a crisp salute, perfected by time with an unforgiving commanding officer. I knew Archer was slightly insane, but I'd never have suspected him of outright abuse, so I figured some time with a loose collar would fix things up.

"Welcome back, Edward," I said. "You're a sight for sore eyes and worried minds."

Edward didn't drop the salute. "Reporting for duty, sir."

It would figure that Archer made him talk instead of signing. The lunatic had never been in a war, he didn't have reason to learn proper field sign. He was a desk jockey pretending to be an officer. "At ease, Edward," I told him. "And stick to sign. I had you learn it for a reason."

You might notice discrepancies in how exactly conversations went. That's perception for you. And memory.

Edward lowered his arms to fold them behind his back in a soldier's proper 'at ease' position, then apparently realized he couldn't sign that way and dropped them to his sides, I glanced at Riza. She gave me a helpless look.

"I don't have any assignments for you right now, Edward. I want you to focus on what a State Alchemist is supposed to be worried about: your research. Not military protocol or duties or anything of the sort. You're a civilian advisor again, Edward. Welcome back." I was trying my best to put him back into his old mindset. I knew war would leave changes; I am hardly the man I was before Ishbal, but I knew he could adapt, and could heal if given a chance.

If I'd known then about the abuse, I might've taken a different path. But I didn't know, so there's little point going over the would've, could've, should'ves. Those can haunt you the rest of your life.

_"I'd like to officially declare my field of research, sir."_

Still with the 'sir'! I was going to break him of that someday.

"Already? You're ahead of the curve. Go ahead." I kicked my feet up on the desk, watching that shatter that hard expression he hid behind for a moment.

_"I'd like permission to research the Philosopher's Stone."_

Something inside of me froze and congealed, but I held a neutral face. The Stone. That had been Marcoh's area of research. And I'd seen the damage a prototype could do. I had no idea what sort of formula Marcoh had used, but whatever it was, I imagined it was costly.

Finally I found my voice. "That seems reasonable. Of course, I would like to be kept appraised of your progress and informed of any breakthroughs. Fair enough?"

He looked momentarily relieved, then signed "yes, sir" and asked permission to depart.

"Go on, go find your leads," I told him. "I'll think of things for you to do when you're tired of research."

He didn't say anything to that, just saluted and left.

I watched him leave, holding onto my expressionless expression, then dropped my feet to the floor once the office door was closed.

"I don't even recognize him anymore, sir," Riza said quietly.

"I don't either," I said, tone kept low. "Expect this for awhile, but as long as we continue to hold loose leashes, he should ease up."

If I had only known.


	5. Chapter 5: Nowhere Man

Years crawled by at a sedate pace and Edward spent them chasing after ghosts and illusions, old fairy tales and anything else that might hint at the Stone. He never found anything, as I had a feeling would happen. But it kept him busy and focused on _not_ trying human transmutation again, so I figured it was helping.

Over the years I started to noticed signs, hints and behaviors that told me Edward had seen a lot more than war. War had a funny way of causing all sorts of problems, but abuse had a fairly recognizable set of symptoms. He'd not just been in a war, he'd been abused. I didn't know if our military had done it, or if he'd been a POW for a short time before joining that firebase. I didn't know, but I wanted names so I could roast someone for it. I wanted to figure out how to help him.

But he stonewalled me at every turn. It was the one order he never obeyed, to tell me who did it and/or what they did. Something. Anything. I wanted nothing more than to help my son, but he wouldn't let me. I ignored how much that hurt; the boy had his own father somewhere, and it was not for me to take that place.

I kept my personal affections as secret as I could. Riza knew I cared, Maes probably suspected I'd mentally adopted Edward, but if he did, he never said so. He made jokes, but he'd been making jokes since he first met Edward.

Edward never suspected. Not until I'd adopted him and told him outright he was my son long after this nightmare ended.

It was May of nineteen fifteen when Edward went to Liore and made a mess of things there. He killed the priest in a fantastically awful way and sent me a report of a potential rebellion planned and another false Stone that busted upon his attempt to test it.

A potential rebellion meant sending a report onto Central. Which meant to Maes. Fortunately for me, that meant we'd be working together- though still under different commands -with Liore, possibly personally.

Edward's methods of 'dealing with' the priest bothered me on a deep level. He'd had kills in the past, ugly messes that gave him a rough reputation, but those had always been something altogether different. Most of his kills were like Tucker, it looked like he'd started beating on them and didn't stop until they were dead. But Cornello was deliberate torture.

After reviewing his report a little closer, I noticed something, that he accused Cornello of attempting to resurrect humans, or at least pretending to. I suddenly would bet a pretty cen or two that the missing arm and leg would be a right-left combination. The torture made sense on a sick level. Edward was reliving his past.

What surprised me in all that paperwork I got buried in, was a phone call. Not from Maes.

From Tim Marcoh.

"Colonel?" Seargent Fuery poked his head into the office. "You have a call on a secure line. Should I transfer it to your office?"

I thought it would be Maes with news of something, god only knew what. "Please, Seargent." I looked at my phone, waiting for it to ring as Fuery went back to his line. When it rang, I picked it up. "This is Colonel Mustang."

"Colonel, quite the promotion," came the old familiar voice.

I stared straight ahead a moment, then lowered my voice. "You are supposed to be hiding, what are you doing, calling me?"

"It's a secure line," Marcoh answered. "I have something you'll find fascinating. The Fullmetal Alchemist came to visit me."

Oh good lord help me. "That boy. I hope he didn't cause you problems? Have you been compromised? I'll find a new place for you immediately."

"No, no, nothing like that," Marcoh said. "He's told me he won't rat me out, and I am inclined to believe him. I found him with his back peppered with buckshot from a shotgun. He'd been harassing a local boy that was abusing his little sister and got caught."

My heart stopped beating in my chest and made a nosedive for my gut. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, I healed him. He's already on his way out of town." Marcoh drew in a breath. "I told him where I hid the research."

I found myself blinking far longer than necessary in shock. "Excuse me?"

"I can't tell you where it is, someone might overhear, but you'll find out soon enough from him."

I sighed. "Understood. Thank you."

"Goodbye, Roy. Be well."

"You too," I said, then hung up.

So Edward had Marcoh's research, something that had been hidden since the end of the Isbhal War. Or would have soon. I knew I just had to wait, Edward would tell me when he got it; he'd never failed to honor that equivalent exchange.

A couple days later I got a call from Edward. He'd made one of his regular stops at a military compound to rest in the dorms and call me from safer lines than found in inns. I told him, for the thousandth time, that he should have someone call for him to avoid hurting his voice, and he replied, for the thousandth time, that his work was confidential and that would be a breach of security.

I sometimes wish I'd slugged Archer before he drowned.

"I have a lead in Central," he said. "You should have my report on Liore."

Central. So that's where Marcoh hid his work. Right under their noses. Marcoh, you clever bastard.

But the Liore situation worried me, and I didn't want Edward in Central where they could tap him for use in it any further. "Yes, about that," I said, shuffling some papers to find Edward's badly-written report. "Besides the fact that your handwriting looks like you wrote it with the pen in your mouth, I need to speak to you about Liore. I want you on the next train back to East Headquarters. Your lead in Central can wait."

He paused. "Sir, everything I know is already in that report."

"I understand that, Edward, but I wish to speak to you in my office. Take the next train East."

"Yes, sir." He sounded unhappy, and I didn't blame him, but if Marcoh's work had remained hidden for the last several years, it would remain there awhile longer.

I just didn't want him in Central right then.

Once I hung up, I picked it back up and connected my line to Maes's office. "Investigations, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes speaking."

"Hughes, it's me," I said.

"What work are you sending me _this_ time?" he demanded. "This Liore mess is huge."

"I know, this isn't any work," I said. "I just gave Edward orders to come back East, but he says he has a lead in Central. He's never disobeyed an order before, but just to be certain, I want you to keep an eye out for him. Something in his tone when I told him to come back makes me worry."

"I'll watch for him," Maes promised. "That kid's a handful and a half. You found a pain with that one."

I groaned. "Don't remind me, Hughes."

"You don't stop complaining about my pictures, I don't stop picking on you for your adopted PITA."

I sighed. "You _make_ me complain about those pictures, Hughes."

"Lies."

"I'll talk to you later, Hughes," I said, not bothering to argue with him. That was an old session of teasing and general horsing around that I wasn't in the mood for. It was almost time to go home, and I had more paperwork to get through before I could go.

I got another call at an ungodly hour the next day. Fear laced with a feeling of being woken from a light REM state of sleep jangled my nerves as I picked up. "Hello?"

"Yeah, Roy?" Maes. Before I could ask what was wrong, he continued. "Guess who just dropped himself on my doorstep?"

I sighed, sitting down wearily. "Let me guess. Edward."

"Mm-hmm. He says he's looking for something in the Library. Just stopped by to try to get that Miss Thomas out of the asylum and out East in Rizenbul."

Now that surprised me. I didn't know all the details about this Rose Thomas, except that she was the reason half of Liore was siding with the military against Cornello's faithful in the church. She'd been declared clinically insane and placed in an institution after the military tried to get straight answers out of her as to what happened and got strange replies interlaced with a lot of religious garbage that nobody could decipher. I assumed a lot of religious abuse and brainwashing, not insanity, but I was not in charge of her.

But Edward wanted to get involved. I understood his motivations to an extent now of his kills, and he was a lot more compassionate than anyone, including us, had given him credit for. But it still shocked me a little. "You're kidding me."

"I know, what a philanthropist. So what should I do with him, Roy?"

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "Keep him with you. Let him get whatever it is he needs at that library, then put him on house arrest. I'll come get him myself this time."

Maes paused a moment. "You sure about that?"

"I'm sure. I want to keep a personal eye on him as long as Liore's going on."

"All right, will do. See you when you get here."

I hung up, staring blankly at the floor. At that point, I felt too awake to go back to bed, but it was far too early to go to the office. Damnit, Edward. The one and only time he ever disobeyed one of my orders and it had to be at five thirty in the morning.

Once I got to the office, I put in my request for time off, explained to General Grumman why I needed it, and got it immediately approved. Sometimes being friends with a higher up has its perks.


	6. Chapter 6: With A Mission

I boarded a red eye train that night, wanting to avoid train food by having dinner before the train was set to leave. Let me say something: train food is awful. We've advanced to the point where trains move fifty miles an hour and we can travel from one side of the country to the other in a week, but we can't come up with real food for travelers to eat? It's ridiculous. It's something Edward and I agreed on, even back then.

And don't even get me started on military food.

It took three long days to get to Central. It was early morning when I arrived, and I was jerked out of a light sleep by the train coming to a stop. I looked around, once again feeling like my nerves were jangling from the abrupt waking up. I grabbed my suitcase and looked around the platform, idly wondering if Maes was meeting me there. I didn't recall arranging that, so I flagged down a taxi.

I hated that I was only there long enough to collect Edward over breakfast before returning East, but there were a couple things wrong with staying longer. For one, that'd use up all my time off I had built up, and I didn't want to do that, and for another, I didn't think it'd do good for Edward to have his commanding officer living underfoot like that. Not when he was probably figuring he was in trouble.

He wasn't. I meant it when I said that. I was almost pleased that he'd disobeyed me, it showed he was starting to maybe move past whatever was done to him that had scared him out of disobeying ever again.

At least, that's what I was hoping.

When we arrived at the Hughes family home, I paid my cab fee and got out and went up to the door and knocked.

"Maes, you look like you haven't slept in a week," I announced in way of a greeting when my friend opened the door.

Maes blinked, giving me a blank look for a second, then grunted in response, opening the door further to allow me in. "Hi to you too, Roy."

I smirked as I stepped into the foyer, watching as Maes closed the door and sleepily leaned his head on my shoulder. "I have more trouble getting that kid of yours to put away his toys and go to bed than I do with Elysia," he grumbled, stifling a yawn.

At that, I chuckled and lifted my hand to pat Maes's head mock-comfortingly. "There there, Maes. I have utmost confidence in your parenting skills."

Maes lifted his head and scowled at me, then laughed and grabbed me up in a hug, slapping my back. "You jackass." Maes shook his head and stepped back. "It's good to see you again. Come on in, Gracia's making breakfast. I'm about to go wake Elysia up for school. Ed oughta be awake soon. I caught him asleep sitting up with his pistol partly reassembled, so he might sleep in a bit."

I sighed. "That boy. But, in other subjects, I doubt your daughter would appreciate being late for school, Maes. You go wake her up, I'll see what kind of a hindrance I can be in the kitchen," I said, waving Maes away and flashing him a bratty smirk.

Maes snorted. "Just be careful that she doesn't smack you with the spatula for anything, 'cause I'm not gonna stick up for you if you drive her to it."

"Nonsense!" I replied, moving towards the kitchen. "Your wife is the picture of patience, Maes. She'd have to be, if your camera is still intact!"

If Maes'd had anything he could throw at me, I wagered he would've at that, as I strolled casually into the kitchen, following the sounds of Gracia putting together breakfast. I lingered back in the doorway a moment, watching as she dug around in the icebox, waiting until she was straightening, three eggs balanced precariously in one hand as she shut the icebox.

"Good morning, Gracia."

Gracia startled, yelping as she whirled, fumbled with the eggs that tried to slip from her hand, and clutched them almost too tightly with both hands. The surprised expression on her face quickly changed into a tired glare that she had to have used on Maes quite a bit to have it so perfected. "Roy Mustang, if I had dropped any of those eggs, I hope you know you would've been _wearing_ the rest."

I clucked my tongue at her, shaking my head. "Now what kind of a greeting is that?" My shit-eating grin widened a bit as I strode into the kitchen, taking the eggs from Gracia's hands, who continued to scowl at me. "Here, let me remove that temptation for you. And even though I've been so heartlessly accused, I'll even offer to help make breakfast. I could light the stove for you, perhaps?"

Gracia crossed her arms as I took the eggs and set them on the counter next to the mixing bowl she had out, giving me an expectant look. "Roy Mustang, what is it that you want?"

"You mean besides breakfast?"

She laughed, throwing her hands up helplessly. "You men are all alike. You think with your stomachs." A warm smile graced her features at that. "It's good to see you again, Roy. You've been missed around here."

That made me smile as I stepped back out of her way, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "It's nice to be back. I wish I could say it was for longer, but unfortunately, I'm just here to chase after a prodigal son."

Gracia's smile turned sad as she turned to pay attention to what she was doing, cracking the eggs into the bowl. "Edward?"

"Who else?" I sighed, crossing one leg across my knee, one elbow propped up on the table.

"What happened to him, Roy?" she asked, pausing in her work, but not turning to me. "Maes says he wouldn't tell me if he knew."

"I probably wouldn't either," I said truthfully. "I suspect abuse of some sort, but who and the exact nature of that abuse, I couldn't say."

Gracia started working again, silent for a time as she put the batter into the skillet in well-formed circles. Sausage sizzled in another skillet, and scrambled eggs would undoubtedly follow suit. "Roy?"

I looked over at her from the point on the wall I'd been staring a hole in sheer exhaustion. "Hm?"

"If you ever find out who did it, hit them once for me."

One corner of my lips quirked up. "If I ever do, Gracia." I didn't hit him, Gracia, but I did something better, so it all worked out in the end.

"Good. Now, be a dear and set the table. Every day plates are in the left side of the hutch, silverware's in the top drawer."

The table was set and breakfast platters were going onto the table by the time Edward came downstairs, his coat left behind and his sidearm blatantly displayed in his shoulder holster. He still doesn't go anywhere without it.

He froze upon seeing me, going from half-asleep to red alert in point-zero-three seconds, then saluted sharply, staring just over my shoulder.

"Unclench, Fullmetal."

Edward remembers this conversation not quite the same as I do. In his version, I was a lot more hostile than I was. No surprise, the boy was neurotically paranoid about higher-ranked officers and he felt he was in trouble for disobeying an order. After what Archer did to him, it doesn't surprise me in retrospect that he thought I was getting so angry.

When he answered by speaking, I sighed. "Edward, sign. I had you learn sign so you didn't ruin your throat."

_"Sorry, sir."_

I bit back another sigh. "Come sit. Gracia's worked hard on this breakfast, it'd be a shame to waste it." Gracia shot me a look that clearly said 'it was only hard because you harassed me.' I gave her a bland smile, then glanced back at Edward. He was looking helplessly at Maes, who simply shrugged at him and motioned to the empty seat across from me.

Edward sat, returning to staring just over my shoulder. "Eat, Edward," I told him, then turned to my own food.

Gracia's cooking has always been stellar, although I do think Maes exaggerates a bit when he says it's the greatest in the world. Without trying everyone's cooking in the world, I doubt you can say that, but it was good, as usual.

I will admit that Edward was right about the atmosphere of breakfast. It was fairly tense. I did my best to only look at Edward a couple times, just to make sure his fear hadn't stopped him from eating, which it hadn't. His automail and natural teenage metabolism required quite a bit of food. I'd seen him eat once or twice in the compound cafeteria, and it was a horror show to see how much he could eat in one sitting.

Elysia finished first, and started getting a bit fussy. Gracia shushed her long enough for Gracia to finish her own breakfast, then she got up and took Elysia to get ready for school.

That left Edward alone with Maes and I. I hoped Maes's presence would ease fears a bit.

I took a sip of my coffee, watching Edward over my cup. He was tense, staring down at his empty plate as if debating if he had it in him to eat more. "Edward, relax. You're not in trouble."

He did relax, marginally. Then apologized. Which, to be fair, was probably the wrong thing to do. "Stop apologizing!" I said in extreme exasperation, then set my mug down and leaned forward, elbows resting on the table and my head in my hands. Part of me wanted to throttle the boy, but that was pure frustration speaking, not any real desire to do so. I didn't blame abuse victims for their behavior, even though sometimes it was very wearing to try to work with them.

"Edward, I'm going to ask you a question you've refused to answer in the past, and I'm going to ask you to not dodge it this time. Who did this to you? Who made you so afraid of being in trouble that you act like this?"

I waited patiently for an answer for what seemed like forever. Edward stayed silent, gaze still down on his plate. I could see him actually start to shake a bit. I wished I could do something, walk around the table and hug him until the shaking stopped, but instead, I waited.

Finally, he spit out an answer. "It was classified, sir. I can't tell you who or what."

My fist did hit the table, but not in anger, but because I just happened to drop it. "Damnit, Edward, you're civilian, not military. Quit-" I stopped before I got angry, drawing in a deep breath. "Edward? Abuse is not in the military handbook. I'm not blind, this wasn't caused by the time at the firebase, was it? War does all sorts of things to people, but abuse has a fairly recognizable set of symptoms. Stop protecting him, Edward, and give me a name."

I hoped that by putting it in those terms, the terms of protecting his abuser, it might convince him to at least give me that much, a name I could blame and report in to Bradley for whatever punishments the fuhrer might creatively dish out, if I didn't just do it myself.

No such luck. He did cringe, but then quickly changed the subject. "I'm sorry I disobeyed orders, sir, but there was something important in the library I had to get."

"Doctor Marcoh's work?" I asked and sat back, allowing him this diversion for the moment.

He nodded. "He gave it to me. I needed the full formula."

I looked at Maes. "I don't need to tell you-"

He interrupted me with a nod. "Nothing leaves this table, you know that."

I turned back to Edward. "Doctor Marcoh contacted my office. He said he treated you for a gunshot wound."

Edward's eyes closed as if afraid to face me now that a weakness had been revealed. He'd spent so many years showing us nothing but an indomitable military mask, perfect and dangerous, that any sign of being human made him ashamed. _"A slip, nothing more, sir."_

"Mm, comforting." I sighed. "You nearly died, Edward. I'm taking you off field work and grounding you to East HQ until you finish your research." The look on his face told me he'd probably intended that anyway, just in Central, away from me, rather than at East with me right in his business.

"Marcoh also told me something else interesting," I continued. "He said that the reason you got shot was because you were harassing a local boy who was trying to abuse his sister. He also indicated that you said you only go after criminals like that boy. Is that true?"

He gave a tiny shrug. _"There's never any evidence. So I don't bother with the police."_

An ugly picture started to paint itself in my mind. The local boy Marcoh told me about was sexually abusing his sister. Without knowing what kind of abuse the others were guilty of, I couldn't exactly say if Edward had been sexually abused based on one case, but I got the feeling it was a distinct possibility. It wasn't entirely unheard of in the military, sadly, although it happened to women more often than the men, as sorry as I am to say that.

Maes and I both looked at each other. Maes pushed his glasses up on his nose a bit. "That'd certainly explain the others," he said. "If we can get evidence and get that word out, we can turn his reputation around. Might make it easier on him to find places to stay when he gets tired or it gets to bad weather."

"I'll let you work on that," I told him, knowing full well he was better at that sort of thing than I was. "Edward?" He finally lifted his head a bit to look at me. "I'm going to ask you one more time. Give me a name."

He bit his lip, dropping his hands into his lap. I could hear his breathing become unsteady. Until much later, after talking with Edward, much older and further away from the abuse, steadier and healing, I didn't understand why it would make someone that afraid of tattling about the abuse. Talking about it, bringing it back to the present, makes the victim relive it as if it were happening again. If I'd realized that's what I was doing, I would've handled things differently. I probably would've violated the code of the military and been more emotionally involved rather than trying to keep things above board.

But finally, I let it go for the moment. "Pack your things, Edward. We're going back East."

Yes, Edward, I used your first name and not your State Alchemist name. You were hearing Archer again, I suspect.

While he went upstairs, I sighed, tilting my head back to stare at the ceiling in frustration. "What am I supposed to do here, Maes?" I asked him, completely rhetorically.

He chose to answer anyway. "I don't know, Roy. I can't get anything out of him, either."

I could hear Edward coming back down the stairs, so I stood. "Tell Gracia the food was delicious, and I hate to eat and run, but I'm on limited time."

"I'll let her know," Maes promised.

Edward appeared in the doorway. I studied him for a moment, the scars on his face, one of which he refused to explain but dismissed along with the rest as war wounds. Too old, too young. I remembered seeing that look on others before, Riza and others too young to be in Ishbal, but Edward was still younger than any of them.

It was heartbreaking. I wanted to make someone hurt a lot for whatever happened to my son.

Edward seems to recall me whispering something to Maes at that point. I honestly don't remember what, so it was probably a sweet nothing.

That got me a few looks just now.

The train ride East was long and silent. I let Edward read his text while I marinated in my own juices. Something was very wrong with my son, and I was unable to help him, and that was completely unacceptable.

When we neared East City, I decided to ask Edward a few questions about his new lead. "I assume, Edward, that you'll let me see your analysis of the text once you are done?"

He didn't look at me as he signed. _"Of course, sir. That was the condition of my research, as I recall."_

"Yes, it was." I took a brief glance out the window to see where we were. Terrain was starting to look familiar. "Tell me what you know now."

_"That it was very well encrypted."_

I didn't know if I liked his smartass reply or not. On one hand, it was annoying, on the other, he was mouthing off without worry. Once again, I hoped for his recovery.

"Anything else?" I knew he knew more, I could tell by his evasiveness. Marcoh had told him something, or he'd figured something.

He finally looked up at me. _"Sir, I've had the text for six days, without any references to cross-check it with. I'm still looking for an array, much less ingredients."_

Fair enough. But I still had a feeling he knew more than he was letting on. "What did Marcoh tell you about it?"

He didn't lift his hands immediately, turning his gaze back down to the book and acting like he was still reading. I could see his eyes weren't moving, so I knew he was just being quiet and figuring out how to safely answer. _"He called it the devil's work."_

"Any idea why?"

This time he sighed. _"He told me the main ingredient."_

"And that is?" His dodging questions was getting tiresome, but the more he did it, the more I worried what this mysterious ingredient was.

_"You're not going to like it. I don't even like it."_

That just worried me into gray hairs. "I don't expect to like it, Edward. I expect that anything as powerful as those prototypes would require a dreadful sacrifice, I just don't know what. I'd like you to tell me."

He stared at me, then swallowed, closing his eyes and looking away. "Live human beings. A lot of them."

I'd used one of those prototypes in Ishbal. The idea of what I'd used, what it'd done, came back to me and doubled my own disgust. Then an idea struck me, and I felt even more ill. "And you intend on making one of these prototypes?" I begged him silently to say no.

_"I was going to investigate the Fifth Laboratory, see if there was anything of his original work left. I don't know what I'd do if there isn't._

Probably as best I could hope for right then. If I'd known he was wanting to use the Stone to rescue his brother, I might've worried more, but for now, between his statement and the fact that his kills were all criminals, I was moderately pacified.

The train lurched to a stop, cutting off anything my thoughts wanted me to say, so I simply looked at Edward and told him he could stay at East HQ while he worked through the text.

_"That's what I planned on, sir."_

Relieved to once again be at East, for once, and glad that Edward was where I could keep an eye on him, we exited the train.


	7. Chapter 7: The Best Of You

For some reason, Edward omitted what came next. It probably didn't seem important to him, anxious perhaps to get to the next part. I couldn't say. Maybe someday we'll talk about it.

I couldn't very well go to the office in my civies with my suitcase in hand. "I'll meet you at the office, Edward," I told him.

He started to say 'yes, sir,' and I was so tired of him calling me 'sir' I could scream, then apparently changed his mind. _"You're going home?"_

"I have to change into my uniform, Edward," I said.

He eyed his own suitcase. _"This text is safer with more than one of us around it,"_ he said. _"If you don't mind, I'll go with you."_

At first, I wasn't sure what he'd said. He was signing one-handed for one, for another, it was so out of left field, it blinded me. "Are you sure, Edward?" He nodded. I drew in a deep breath. "Well, this way then."

My house was walking distance from the headquarters; nobody allowed me to drive unless I had to, since I was terrible at it, and I didn't want to pay for a cab every day to get to and from work. So I had to regrettably live near HQ.

Edward remained silent, so I didn't invite conversation, although I wondered why he chose to accompany me to my house. I wondered if his reason about protecting Marcoh's research was his real reason, or a cover up. I couldn't tell. On one hand, he valued his research enough that I could buy it. On the other, it seemed weak, and I hoped that maybe, just maybe, he was warming up to me a bit.

Or maybe investigating to see if it was safe to or not.

We reached my house fairly quickly, and I unlocked and let us in. "Wait out here," I told him once we were inside my living room. He looked around as if seeing a house for the first time.

I left him to decide what to make of my decor while I went and changed. Once back in proper attire, I grabbed my uniform jacket and my boots and returned to the living room. I suspect part of me didn't entirely trust Fullmetal in my living room alone, so I wasn't entirely done changing.

He was staring at a picture of Maes and I that I kept on my mantle. He looked over at me as I sat down on my couch to pull on my boots. "When was this taken?"

The quiet in the house made it easier to hear him. "We were fresh out of Academy. That was immediately before my deployment to Ishbal," I answered, tugging on one boot. I hate those boots, for the record. Just for the record, you know.

He went back to studying the picture. "You're close?"

"Hm?" He repeated himself, this time turning to face me to sign. "Oh, yes. We've known each other a long time."

_"As close as brothers?"_

I paused with the other boot midway on, thinking about that. I could easily say yes, but something about this line of questioning made me wonder what was going through that boy's head, and what would be the safest way to answer that. "You could say that," I finally said, pulling my boot the rest of the way on.

_"What was Ishbal like?"_

That was another question that made me stop what I was doing a moment. "Hell in a sand castle," I finally said. "They made us do awful things, as happens in war." I looked up at him from my spot on the couch. "What's with this line of questioning? You've never shown interest in any of our lives before."

He suddenly looked uncomfortable as he shrugged. _"Just realized I didn't know anything about any of you outside the office. When I was at Olivia, we all told each other about our lives."_

"That's how you survive a firebase, Edward," I said. "I know quite a bit about my men because of that. It's different here in the world of paperwork and peace."

_"So we shouldn't know anything?"_

"We can know," I said. "It's just not a survival skill here like it is out there."

He seemed satisfied with that answer. _"Are you ready, sir?"_

I stood and pulled on my jacket, buttoning it up. "I am now."

We left my house, locking up behind us, and headed to our jobs. "There's an extra desk in the office," I said. "I don't know if you've ever noticed it. You can work there."

He nodded once in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything besides a quick signed 'thank you'.

When we reached the office, there were orders waiting for us. I directed Edward to take a seat while I went into my inner office to see what was going on that Central had bothered with us. I hoped it'd just be something for me, and I could tell Edward to go get to work on his text.

The orders were about Liore, which part of me suspected. We were coordinating with Central some over how to handle that mess. I skimmed them, looking for what exactly they wanted past all the military speak bullshit.

_The Fullmetal Alchemist is to be immediately assigned to Liore to assist military forces with subduing the rebellion. Success will grant an immediate clearance promotion to that of a lieutenant colonel._

My stomach dropped into my feet and my heart followed suit.

I saw an allowance for his medical leaves that he frequently had to take, which said I could go instead, and I was sorely tempted to take that loophole, but I knew I'd have to forge some paperwork and send Edward off alone to Rizenbul if I did.

Dropping the orders on my desk, I all but ran out of my office, pausing to stare at Edward as it once again tempted me to throw him out on medical leave. If I forged those papers, though, and Central found out, they'd move him to someone else's command again and I could never let that happen.

I motioned to Riza. "Lieutenant, in my office."

She didn't question, rarely did, simply set aside her paperwork and followed me back into my office. She shut the door behind her. "Sir?"

I flopped down into my chair. "They're assigning Edward to clean up Liore," I spit out after a second or two.

She kept her face passive, but I could see the worry in her eyes. "What do we do, sir?"

"We let him go," I said, my expression darkening. "But we don't let him go alone."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm assigning you to be his bodyguard, Lieutenant," I said, sitting up straighter in my chair. "It's dangerous in Liore right now, and it wouldn't do to put a valuable State Alchemist in more trouble than necessary."

"No, sir, it wouldn't. I'll requisition the necessary equipment with your permission."

I sighed. "Keep him safe, Lieutenant," I said.

She gave me a faint smile. "Yes, sir, at all costs."

After giving her the forms, filled out and signed, to request whatever she felt she needed to keep Edward safe, she left and I stepped out into the outer office. "Edward, please come here."

He looked like he was afraid of trouble again, and I wanted to stamp down on those fears as much as I could, but I knew it'd be a failure with him learning of any sort of deployment, and with my own fear levels ratcheted up.

He saluted upon coming in. I sat back down. "Drop the military act, Edward," I said, perhaps more peevishly than I intended. "I'm not interested." I picked up the orders form. "We received orders from Central. The situation in Liore has escalated and they're wanting a State Alchemist to go put out the fire."

_"Sir?"_ I could see confusion on his face, more in his eyes than anywhere else, but it was there, a break in his usual military mask.

I took it as a grim victory. "Specifically, they're requesting you, Edward. With promise of a clearance rank of lieutenant colonel if you succeed." Edward said that I didn't look happy about it, and that was a grand understatement. I wanted to set all of Central on fire for doing this to me and to Edward.

Edward took it with military grace. i"I'll do my best, sir." Then he paused, looking past me with the thousand mile stare I'd seen time and again on veterans' faces, on Edward's face, even on mine once or twice. Always seeing something we didn't want to. _"Will I have to wear a uniform?"_

I shook my head. "No, Edward, you're not being drafted into war, it's a mission given to a State Alchemist. We get those sometimes. I'm sending Lieutenant Hawkeye with you to act as your bodyguard. She was my bodyguard during the Ishbal War, she's good. She's the best, in fact. I trust you'll treat her well."

_"Of course, sir."_

"She's gone to requisition the equipment she'll need. Is there anything you need?"

He was silent a moment, clearly thinking over his personal inventory. _"No, sir, I have enough ammunition to last me."_

I bit back a sigh, my eyes closing briefly. He was sixteen, he shouldn't be talking about such things already. I sat back. "You and the lieutenant will depart immediately."

_"Yes, sir."_ He saluted again, then turned and walked out. I felt sick to my stomach, watching him go, but I had no choice.

A few hours later, I decided something. I _had_ to figure out a way to get transferred back to Central. It wasn't just that the only thing that was any sort of benefit to being out here was the chess games with the general, and it wasn't just that hopes for promotion became slim, tucked away out in the forgotten desert. Liore could theoretically even make up for that.

No, it was because all of my conversations with my best friend were precluded by the ear-piercing ring of that damn telephone.

"Hello?"

"Have I sent you the latest pictures of my daughter?"

That was really no way to start a phone conversation.

I sat back. "If you have, they haven't arrived yet. Did you send them out this morning? Hughes, I told you, you have to give the postal service more than a few hours to deliver those things anywhere," I said.

Maes sounded disappointed at that. "Aw, they still haven't arrived? I sent them yesterday!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Hughes, it takes more than one day for anything to go from Central to East, you know that."

A sigh from the other side of the line. "A shame. They're cute pictures, too!"

"I'm sure they are," I said. "So what's this call for?"

"I'm surprised you're there, actually," Maes said. "I heard they dispatched a State Alchemist to Liore. My investigations team is following up with you and your men afterwards."

I snapped my pencil in half, my thoughts forced back onto that subject. "They sent Edward," I said, grinding my teeth. "Not just a State Alchemist. And they cushied it with a clearance rank promotion."

Maes whistled into my ear, making the phone crackle slightly. "They really got their eyes on him, don't they?"

"Sadly, yes."

There was a click on the line. "Okay, line's secure," he said. "You don't think it's got to do with that book of his, do you?"

That hadn't occurred to me. "I sincerely hope not." Now that the thought _was_ there, I felt sick to my stomach again. The last thing the military needed was access to that formula.

"I guess we'll find out eventually."

I didn't need to tell him that I didn't care to. "Perhaps. So you'll be shipping East soon."

"Tomorrow morning at oh-stupid-hours. So I'll be dropping on _your_ doorstep this time."

"With pictures in hand, I'm sure," I said, feeling a bit better knowing I'd have Maes at my side for this. And Riza was with Edward, I could at least be assured he'd be physically protected and Central would know I still had my hooks in the boy for the moment. It was a challenge to them, one they'd win, I was sure, but I couldn't go without trying.

"Of course! Nothing to make us feel better as much as adorable pictures of an adorable little girl and her mother."

"Of course," I replied blandly.

What kills me sometimes about this man is that he's not just playing up the image the way I'd play up my procrastinator image. He's genuinely that enthusiastic about his wife and daughter. Age hasn't tempered him any, either.

When Riza had left, she'd left her dog in my care. He was a good dog, maybe too well-behaved. Riza had certainly trained him well. Fuery had found him one rainy day about a year ago and begged one of us to take him, since Fuery lived in the dorms and therefore couldn't. Breda is, hilariously, afraid of dogs, and Havoc seemed to think he was a stirfry ingredient. Having none of that, Riza agreed to adopt him.

I got a call a few days after Riza and Edward had left for Liore. It was to my private residence, and I wasn't sure who it was. Maybe Maes, but I was pretty sure he was on his way to East already, and I didn't think Riza would have access to a phone yet. So I was worried there'd be a repeat of Tucker.

"Hayate, down," I said, pushing aside an excitable dog who was trying to nose the phone out of my hand. "It's just the phone." I put the receiver to my ear. "Hello?"

"Sir?"

It was Riza. "Ah, Lieutenant. How can I help you?" I sincerely hoped she could hear the questions in my tone. Was she okay? What about Edward? What was going on?

"I want you to know that your ability to frustrate me has been passed onto your son in spades," she said in that same bland tone that she used on me when telling me to stop procrastinating. "Also, make sure you do your work at the office." Then she hung up.

I had no idea what Edward did to warrant this call, but I had a feeling I'd either be very proud of him, or want to smack him.


	8. Chapter 8: Pleasant Bibles

Maes and his team arrived two days later. Men worked around us, gathering up requisitioned supplies and forming teams. Riza and Edward were due back the night before on a red eye, but Riza had called the night before to report that their train had broken down and they were catching the next one out the next morning.

She called the office the next day, which didn't surprise me. I expected her to be reporting they were about to board and remind me to do my paperwork. I intended on telling her then about leaving for Liore, which she and Edward would just barely get back in time for, but she had other news.

"Colonel, are there any reports of a man in a tan coat with a large facial scar attacking State Alchemists?" she asked.

My blood froze over. "Ah, yes, there are. Why?"

"Fullmetal and I just got attacked by him. What are your orders concerning our next move? He was injured when the fight ended."

Did I say my blood froze over? It'd only turned to sludge. _Now_ it was freezing over. Scar. Edward and Riza should statistically be dead already. Nobody had survived Scar's attacks, much less injured him. Leave it to my family.

"I want you two to hide. Don't worry about your duties here, your new duty is to keep Edward safe from him. That was Scar, he's a serial killer that targets State Alchemists. You both are very lucky to be alive." I kept my tone worried, but not as worried as I felt.

"Hide, sir?"

"That's right, hide. Get off the radar until you hear he's been apprehended, or until I order otherwise. Check in on occasion with military bases to see if there's any news from me. But otherwise, disappear for awhile."

She was quiet a moment. "Sir, I have a package I need you to tend to, then," she said. "Edward found a kitten that he'd like saved. I agreed to take her in, but I cannot take care of her anymore than I can Hayate on the field. Can I impose on you to take care of her?"

A kitten? Edward was saving kittens? Oh, hallelujah, the boy still had a heart. I found myself smiling despite my fears. "Of course, Lieutenant. I'm sure Hayate will like someone to fuss over. Send her my way, she'll be taken care of."

Of course, what I didn't say to her was that her grandfather would be taking care of the kitten and Hayate while I was gone. With Scar on the loose, I didn't want her to think her duties to me as my bodyguard overrode her new duties to Edward as his.

"She's going to shoot your nuts off, pal," Maes said once I'd hung up with Riza. "You know she doesn't like you going places without her. She probably would've recommended they both come with us to play bodyguard."

"I know, but I want her focused on his safety. I'll be fine."

Our train arrived at oh-stupid-hours, as Maes put it, the next morning. I was reluctantly up and uniformed, waiting at the train station. We were going right from there to an outpost just outside of Liore, where we'd be switched to personnel trucks and taken into Liore proper to see how Edward had handled the city. I was afraid the word for it would be 'messy.'

"What a fucking mess."

Havoc's assessment of the situation, once we got to Liore, was the same as mine. Upon getting there, we'd learned from Captain Sorenson that Edward had simply sealed up the church where the rebels were hiding.

That was almost a week ago. With no air getting in or out, and the merciless sun beating down on them, those people were probably all dead and melting. There were some bodies that Edward and the military had taken out the old fashioned way, a handful of rebels protecting their boundaries. The military had already cleared those away, but you could still smell their deaths.

"Very astute observation," I said, a bit peevishly. I didn't like what I was seeing, what the captain had told me. There had been children in that church, and Edward had just sealed them up to a slow death in an overheating tomb.

His record of criminals only was rapidly going down the drain, unless he had some rationale that justified it in his mind. I was sure he did, but I couldn't imagine what it was.

I just knew Edward was not recovering from the abuse and 'training' the military gave him.

"That's what you're here for, boys," Maes said, not as tense as I was, but close. "To clean up the mess so we can look around at things and nod and make thoughtful noises a lot."

Normally that might've eased my tensions a bit, but I wasn't in the mood for any humor, not even Maes's. My son had done this, had killed the entire rebellion in one ugly transmutation. It was beautifully efficient, as efficient as Ishbal had been once we State Alchemists had been deployed. Which is what bothered me. He was a perfect weapon.

The men divided into small crews, my personal subordinates and Falman making up one crew to rotate with others from East and Central. The different crews started work, examining the church, evaluating the stone in the way, trying to find where the front door might've been.

It was my men that found it first. "It's three feet of solid rock," Havoc said. "We'll have to blast the first two feet away, or we'll be here all week, but the last foot should be done by pickaxe. We don't know what's in the air in there."

Fuery eyed the pickaxes. "We'll be digging through solid rock?"

"A foot of it," Havoc said. "Welcome to the military, where you're a master of everything."

"Enough yammering," Breda said. "Havoc, get the plastics, Falman, get the detonators. Fuery, clear a blast zone."

The men immediately fell into work, a well-oiled machine. The day dragged on, with the sun becoming more unforgiving. It grew too hot to breathe, too much like Ishbal, waiting in the firebases for orders as wind blew sand into everything.

And in all of it, we were in thick uniforms of a dark blue color, meaning we baked even faster.

We all had sunburn by the time the first putrid blast of air hit us. I wasn't nearby, but I heard one of the men on the crew working start puking. I looked over, scowling, not angry at the poor bastard, but even more upset about what I'd find in there.

Death, I imagined. Probably no survivors.

Gas masks were brought out so nobody else lost their lunches while working. It was my crew that was just coming on duty when the last of the rubble in front of the door was cleared away.

"Boss," Breda said, walking over. "We're in. There were a lot of bodies piled up right against the door, crews just got done clearing them away. Warning for ya, they melted."

I ignored the mental image that presented. "Good. Get the others, then. Make sure you have your guns and keep those pickaxes on hand."

"You got it," Breda said, giving me a brief salute before going to carry out his orders.

Maes approached me. "Looks like it's our turn," he said. I nodded once, then approached the others. Havoc was bitching about getting the dirty work.

"It's your bad luck rubbing off on the rest of us," Breda told him. "Gitcher gear, we're going in with Hughes and the boss."

"When you're not expecting it, we're going to string you up like a piñata," Falman said as if declaring the sky was blue, checking his gun while he spoke.

"Now now, children," Maes said. "We leave you alone for five minutes and you're already fighting."

"Do we get to stand in separate corners?" Havoc asked. "I'd like to stand in a corner out here."

I gave him a sharp look. "That's enough, Lieutenant Havoc."

"Yes, sir," he said, looking and sounding genuinely apologetic. As well as still annoyed. I couldn't blame him, I didn't want this work, either.

Maes and I donned gas masks, Maes checking his side arm. I had one, but I rarely used it. It caused a spark, it was going to set off anything in there as much as my gloves would and my gloves are deadlier and quicker. I'm a poor shot anyway.

I took the front, Maes right behind me, leaving my most trusted men to protect our rear. Even through the masks, I could make out faint traces of the rotted stench that greeted us as we entered the church.

Bodies lined the hallway of the front entrance, as if they'd given up on piling on top of the others that had already been cleared away, just sitting back and waiting for the door to open. I tried to ignore them.

Behind me, Breda yelled and there was an accompanying _whumph_ as he fell. We all turned, closing in ranks and bringing up weapons, looking for the threat.

"Sonuvabitch!" Breda yelled, and I finally registered that he'd merely tripped over a body and his leg was now covered to mid-calf in melted body goo.

"You asshole!" Havoc yelled. "You scared the shit outta us!"

"Excuse me!" Breda snapped back, standing up and shaking his leg like a dog that just stepped in a rain puddle. "Wasn't my intention, you know."

I didn't have the patience for their yammerings. "That's enough, you two," I said, barely holding my temper. "Lieutenant Breda, watch your step next time."

"Yes, sir," he said. They all knew me well enough to know when I was too angry for anything but getting the job done. Maes put a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him, not able to see his expression, but knowing what it was, anyway. He was trying to calm me down. I looked away, continuing down the hall.

The place was a labyrinth. The chapel was the first place we found. People sat in pews, slumped over or leaning back, jaws slacked open, and at the altar at the front of the chapel, people were piled up haphazardly at the statue just behind the altar.

Up in the statue's mouth was what was left of a priest, I assumed to be Cornello, based on initial reports from the Rose girl. "God swallowed him," she said. I didn't understand Edward's reasoning on that one. The arm and leg made sense; it was what he'd lost for attempting human transmutation. But the body being swallowed almost whole made no sense to me.

Seeing it for myself didn't help, either. I was hoping the reason would've been clear if I'd just seen it. But nothing came to mind.

"I don't see anything but bodies here, Boss," Breda said after a sweep.

"We'll continue on, then," I said.

The other areas of the church were relatively empty; most people had been at the entrances and exits of the church, or in the chapel. The offices and living quarters were relatively empty. We ransacked every office we came to, until we got to what was clearly Cornello's office.

A search of his desk revealed a drawer locked with alchemy. I unlocked it, and searched the drawer while the others searched the rest of the room. I found letters talking about giving Cornello the Stone to start a rebellion. Perfect, the proof we needed. "Hughes, come look at this."

Maes walked over to me, peering over my shoulder. "Just what we were looking for," he said. "Come on, let's get out of here so I can submit those."

"Initiating Maneuver Get The Hell Out Of Here, sir?" Havoc asked.

"Yes, Lieutenant. Let's go." I wasn't eager to go back downstairs to the front entrance and past all those bodies again, but it was the way out, and I wanted out.

The blistering sun was a welcome relief to that stuffy tomb. Once well away from the entrance, I pulled off my mask and breathed in a dry breath of sand. Isbhal once again came creeping back to me, but I pushed it aside.

The city was empty, devoid of life but the military. Once the investigation was done, the military planned on leveling it completely, rather than letting the people who sided with us return to their homes. Typical military action.

With evidence in hand, the city was cleared for destruction and we were cleared to return to our normal posts. I was grateful to get out of that condemned city.


	9. Chapter 9: Your Stalwart

When I got back, Hayate and the kitten were waiting for me. It was evening, so I invited myself over to the Grumman household to pick up the animals. Their servant, Marybeth, was still there, making sure dinner was ready for the general and his disabled wife so they could get through the night without her, since she wasn't a live-in. She was less a servant in the traditional sense and more of a caretaker for Missus Grumman while the general was at work. I feared with his age, though, that they may have to get a live-in eventually since he wouldn't always be able to take care of his wife.

But for now, it was Marybeth who answered the door. "Hello, Colonel," she greeted. "Come in, I'll announce you."

She led me back to the sunroom, where the light was just starting to get dim in there. It faced the south, maximizing how long sunlight would illuminate the room before they'd retire to a lighted room further in the house. The general was reading a book, and Missus Grumman was crocheting something. I was pretty sure it was crochet, at least. I was never good at telling the difference between that and knitting.

"General, Missus? Colonel Mustang is here to see you," she said upon entering.

The general smiled. "Thank you, Marybeth. How is dinner going? Is it big enough for us to invite the colonel to join us?"

"I can make it so, yes," Marybeth confirmed. "I'll go do that now."

"Thank you," the general said. Once Marybeth had gone, he motioned to a free seat. Beside him Hayate watched me silently. I could tell he wanted to bark and invite me to play. I couldn't see any signs of a kitten, but I imagined she was around somewhere.

I took the offered seat. "Hello, General. Sorry for the intrusion."

"Not at all," he said. "I assume you're here for the pets?"

I nodded. "I am. What have we been calling the cat?"

"Sweetie," Missus Grumman answered. "She's an absolute darling." She moved her crocheting a bit to reveal the kitten laying on her lap. The cat was almost all black, with a white muzzle and white boots on her front two paws. I had to admit, she was cute. "Although she's furring up Riza's new blanket."

"Is that what you're working on?"

"It is. She said Hayate chewed a hole in her old one when he was still being trained."

I glanced at Hayate. "And what do you have to say for yourself?"

He finally barked, then got up and walked over to me for pets. "I didn't bring any treats, boy," I told him, petting his muzzle.

"They're both good animals," Grumman said. "Have you heard from my granddaughter?"

I shook my head, attention idly on Hayate, but mostly focused on the general. "Not since she called in about Scar. I suspect it may be awhile before I do. She's very serious about making things safe, and as long as Scar's around, Edward's not safe. Especially with his reputation. I'm surprised Scar hasn't already gone after him."

"I am too," the general said. "Well, when she deems it safe, we'll hear from them." He glanced at his wife.

She paused her crocheting to pet the cat. "I don't mind, you know that, dear," she said.

Until the general spoke up again, I wasn't sure what just happened under my nose. "So, what did you find in Liore, Colonel?"

I sighed. "A mess. Edward sealed up the church to force a surrender. The faithful, naturally, did not, so they all died in there from suffocation. Very ugly."

"I imagine," Grumman said, sounding worried. I hoped I'd been right in keeping Riza by Edward's side, and I could hear the same in his voice. "What about the rebellion? Besides their massive amounts of weaponry, any evidence of that?"

I nodded. "We found letters between Cornello and some unknown woman about giving him the Stone to start a rebellion against the fuhrer and Amestris at large. According to Edward's initial reports, everyone in the city was armed that he saw."

"Any clues to the identity of this woman?"

"No, not that we've found." Hayate sat down on my feet, leaning against my legs. "We've submitted the documents to Investigations, Hughes and his team will analyze the handwriting, see if it matches up with anyone we already have on file. If not, it'll be difficult to track her down."

"One thing in particular stands out to me, if I may," the general said. "The woman said she gave him that Stone that Edward was after."

"That's right," I said. "Edward said that when he tested it, it shattered. So I very much doubt it was a true Philosopher's Stone. A fancy replica, perhaps, one that worked well for a third-rate alchemist like Cornello, but couldn't stand up to Edward's level of skill."

"Yes, yes, I agree with that assessment. But what I wonder is who this woman could be that she'd have one to give Cornello. And what her motive is. And if she has more Stones that she could scatter around the country. Perhaps those are what your boy's been chasing, is this woman's fake Stones."

"You think there's a bigger conspiracy?"

"I may be a paranoid old goat, but I suspect it, yes. It's a possibility you'll probably want to look into with your boy when he and my granddaughter come out of hiding."

"Well, Edward's got a different lead he's working on right now. An old friend of mine offered some research that may lead him to something better than a fake like Cornello's."

"An old friend?"

_"Walls have ears, General, and I don't want to endanger the missus."_ "Just an old war buddy," I said. Field sign had evolved a bit since the last time the general probably used it, but the basics were the same.

He nodded, stroking his mustache. "Well, you'll have to tell me sometime." _"After dinner, in my study."_

"I will," I promised. To anyone listening in, it was an innocent conversation. The missus probably knew something was going on, she saw us signing, although we'd both been subtle about it. As far as I knew, she didn't know sign, but whether she did or not, she knew this meant she'd not be privy to our conversation. I couldn't imagine how frustrating that must've been for her.

The door to the sunroom opened and we looked over. Marybeth bowed slightly. "General, Missus, Colonel, dinner is ready."

"Thank you, Marybeth." The general and I stood, and Hayate got up off my feet and waited next to me, tail wagging. The general went over to his wife. "Shall we, my dear?"

She smiled up at him. "Of course, dearest." The general took his wife's crocheting and handed it to Marybeth. "Please put that in the parlor for the missus."

"Yes, General." Marybeth took the yarn and partially-finished blanket and left the room. The kitten stirred on Missus Grumman's lap, and meowed, a tiny little sound that I have to admit, captured me instantly. I had a soft spot for cats; I grew up on a ranch with barn cats and I babied every new litter that came along.

Dinner was good, and somewhat quiet. Marybeth left for the night as soon as dinner was served. The kitten and Hayate both were given more table scraps than Riza probably would've approved of. I figured, let them be spoiled a bit. That's what grandparents were for.

After dinner, we wheeled the missus into the parlor to continue crocheting, then retired to the general's study a room away. It was a private room, soundproofed as much as possible without being a padded cell, with shelves of books, a desk with a chair, and a large sofa and chair with ottoman set in the middle.

The general settled himself in the chair. "Now, who's this friend of yours?"

"Do you remember Doctor Tim Marcoh? He was the one in charge of the Red Stone research in Ishbal. Deserted the army after the Rockbell doctors were killed."

The general looked up at the ceiling, like trying to remember. "Oh yes, I remember him. Is he still safe from the military?"

"As far as I know," I said. "I haven't heard of an arrest, nor have I gotten a call for help."

"So he gave his research to Edward?"

"He did." I sighed. "And not even Edward liked what was in it."

That had the general's full attention. "What is in it, Roy?"

"Live humans. Edward wasn't specific about how many, but the prototype Stones are made from living human beings."

For the longest moment, the general stared at me, or just past me, I couldn't tell which. "The military's in it deep," he finally said. "What does Edward plan on doing with the research?"

I took a deep breath. "Fortunately, he made it sound like he wasn't interested in making one the hard way. As soon as I can safely clear him for going back to Central, he wants to look into the lab that Marcoh worked in to see if he can find anything still left. I suppose his reasoning is that lives already lost may as well be put to good use. It's not a bad rationale, compared to some."

"Better than he could have," The general agreed. "What are _you_ planning on doing with this information?"

"Sitting on it," I said. "Edward won't be safe from scrutiny if I report this. Neither would Marcoh, and he's helped Edward twice now, once by giving him the research, and twice by saving his life from a shotgun injury. Edward won't turn him in. And I sincerely doubt Edward will ever give up that formula."

"Has he ever said what he intends on doing with that research once it's complete?"

I shook my head. "No. He says his interest came from going over Tucker's research and finding out that the military was interested, but his hatred of the military runs pretty deep. I don't think he'll be turning any Stone he gets his hands on over to his superiors."

"Ah, yes, but what will he do with that? That's the question."

"That one keeps me up at night," I admitted. "I can't imagine what. His answers in his test interview said he was joining for his family's sake, since they were all gone. Part of me worries he might try something drastic in that direction, but even with a Stone, I don't see how he can get his family back."

Okay, okay, Edward, you're right. You did. It's not nice to brag.

"Speaking of family, when are you planning on making me an in-law and my granddaughter an honest woman?" he asked, switching the conversation to lighter subjects.

I sighed. "As soon as you convince her she's better off as my wife than playing nice with my uniform."

He chuckled. "I keep trying, but she insists you need her when it rains."

That brought a faint smile to my lips. "She's right. And it rains a lot out here in the East. Once I get back to Central, I'll try to convince her to resign so I can propose properly."

"Good, good. I want a chance to walk her down the aisle before I go."

"I'll do my best, sir."

Conversation drifted to safer topics, until the general said he and the missus had to get to bed. I gathered up the pets, Hayate on his leash, and the kitten in the carrier Edward apparently made for her, and headed home.

The kitten was anxious about her new accommodations. I wasn't surprised, she was small, and had gone from living on the streets, to probably stressful travel, then to a new house that she was now taken from.

She stayed close to her carrier, and I let her be for the night. I woke up to find her on my uniform I'd laid on a chair in my room after undressing the night before.

She'd fuzzed up my uniform.

I glared at my poor furry uniform. "Your name is Fuzzball now," I told her. She meowed in response. Cheeky thing. No wonder Edward was fond of her.

Time crawled by with still no word from Edward or Riza. I started to worry. How long did they have to be gone to get Scar off their tail? I started putting out orders for them to return to East ASAP, to regroup and take on Scar together, rather than them constantly dodging him.

More time went by. Orders for Edward came in. A transfer notice that made me want to scream and cry and burn the paper evidence so it would never come to pass. I hoped that Edward and Riza wouldn't get the orders I put out until forever.

Unfortunately, that didn't come to pass. Riza and Edward showed up at my office, both acting like well-trained military personnel. They both saluted crisply, Riza taking over the speaking. "Fullmetal and Lieutenant Hawkeye reporting for duty, sir."

Something had happened. I could see it in Riza's eyes. Even Edward's eyes betrayed something hurt, something wrong. They both looked haunted behind those masks they presented. I set my pen aside. "At ease, you two. Glad to see you both back. Any further problems with Scar?"

"No, sir," Riza said.

"Good. Now, I must ask. Liore. Edward, I was there, I saw the site." I glanced at Riza. "You can shoot me for not telling you later." I turned back to Edward. "I have to ask, why that route? There were children in there, Edward."

_"It was a field of battle, sir, I couldn't assume anybody was unarmed. They were given a chance to surrender and failed to take that chance. So they were treated as enemy soldiers."_

I heard the truth in that. He'd been a child armed and expected to go to war, he was made a soldier, so those children were too. They were enemy soldiers, not innocent children. "Very military of you, Edward."

_"Thank you, sir."_ I hadn't meant it as a compliment, but I wasn't surprised that he'd seen it that way.

I was desperate to know what happened. Riza's mask was slipping with every passing second. She looked ready to break down in tears, which was unusual for her. "Edward, could you step out a moment? I would like to speak to the lieutenant alone." I reluctantly added, "but don't go far. I have new orders for you."

Edward saluted, then stepped out. I studied Riza. "Any incidents while you were out, Lieutenant?"

She wavered. "Sir, I have information you will want. You won't like how I got it."

"I'm sure I won't." I stood and went to the door, dropping the blind on the window on my door. "Talk to me, Riza," I said quietly, stepping over to her.

She didn't look at me, staying ramrod straight, staring at my desk. "He was orally raped, sir. And whipped. He has fifteen lash marks on his back from trying to run away from the abuse."

My temper and my fear argued with each other. On one hand, I wanted to snap and set this person on fire. On the other, I was horrified for Edward's sake, wanting to grieve for him.

There was a third hand, though."How did you find this out, Riza?"

Riza's expression nearly broke, but tears did manage to escape the mask she was desperately holding onto. "He was bluffing. I made the wrong call and hurt him even worse. I'm sorry, Roy, we- I cheated on you, it was the only way he'd let me in, I was desperate to fix things for you both, I'm sorry-"

I cut her off by hugging her tightly, and she finally did break down, gripping me tightly and crying quietly. She'd never been a loud crier, thank goodness, because I suspect Edward might've come crashing in if he heard her crying. If he'd let her in far enough for an affair, then he probably cared enough to punch me for making Riza cry.

My stomach was doing flip flops. Betrayal and anger and grief all crashed down at once, fighting for my attention. The betrayal ultimately lost; I couldn't see how I could blame either abuse victim for what happened. It hurt, but not as much as what caused it hurt.

Was I angry at Edward? In a roundabout sort of fashion, yes. Was I angry with Riza for cheating on me? In another roundabout fashion, yes. But both of those were far eclipsed by my anger against the original abuser that caused this ugly cycle. Ultimately, there was no blame to place on my son or my secret girlfriend. Things had gone wrong, things that could be laid at the feet of Edward's original abuser.

Riza settled down after a moment. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Hush," I said, still keeping my voice low. "It's not your fault and I don't blame you or him. We know who's really to blame, and it's not the abused. Why don't you go home for the day, spend some time with Hayate, give yourself a chance to recover before coming back to the office. I've made it this long without a bodyguard, I can handle a few more days while you take time off."

She shook her head. "I have to stay with you, I-"

"Riza? Go home. That's an order."

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Yes, sir." She looked up at me finally, looking me in the eye. "You're not mad at me?"

"I'm angry at whoever did this to you two," I told her. "But not at you, nor at Edward. Just worry about relaxing a few days, Riza. You'll be back in the office in no time."

She nodded, then let go of me, took a breath, dried her face and left the office, looking for all the world as if I'd punched her in the gut.

Edward entered almost as soon as Riza had left. "What'd you do to R- the lieutenant?" he demanded in his squeaky little voice.

"Riza?" I said blandly. "The lieutenant went home, I sent her to recover from traveling before settling back in at an office job."

That seemed to crawl under Edward's skin a bit. He went back to his military masks, whatever anger he might've held tightly controlled under obedience. An obedience that had cost him and Riza dearly. Time would tell how badly Riza was affected, she was stronger than most people I knew, but I also knew she was not immune to troubles. She had suffered her own form of trauma after the war in Ishbal. I worried what this might've done to her.

I grabbed a folder and pulled out the transfer notice and handed it to Edward. "You have orders."

He took it and started reading. He abruptly went pale, looking more fearful than I'd seen him in a long time. "Is this a joke?"

I shook my head. "You're to transfer to Central, under Fuhrer Bradley's direct command immediately, barring medical necessities."

Edward looked like he wanted to set those orders on fire as much as I did. Finally, he saluted. "It's been an honor serving under you, sir."

Whatever anger I might've been holding against Edward for what happened to Riza evaporated with that. Tension faded from my face, leaving behind a rueful smile. "It's been an honor, Edward. Now go on."

I hated watching him leave that office. My son had once again been taken away from me. And I was once again helpless to stop it.


End file.
